Faunalytics’ eighth Fundamental looks at the vast world of invertebrates — a category of animals that includes everyone from fruit flies to octopi — explores just how much we don’t know about them, and why it's vital for us to advocate for them.
The Invertebrate Fundamentals consists of a series of data-driven infographics, and looks at a range of issues that the Faunalytics team feels are the most salient for advocates to consider. In this resource, advocates will find:
- A broad discussion of different categories of invertebrates, with quick facts on pollinators, arachnids, and invertebrates from the land and sea.
- Public opinion on invertebrates, including a brief overview of the debate over their sentience.
- A deep dive into the world of pollinators, threats to extinction, and their importance in a global ecosystem.
- A closer look at the variety of land and aquatic invertebrates, how they live, and threats they face.
- A look at the use of invertebrates in laboratory research.
- A look at entomophagy (the practice of insect eating), as well as their farming on a mass scale.
Please view the Invertebrate Fundamentals for the full details.
Hi Jamie! Thank you for bringing this up - we do address this in the accompanying blog post to the Fundamental where we touch on what we covered and what we didn't:
"The third issue is one that we did touch on, but that goes much deeper than we have the space for: the farming of insects for food. It’s a topic that we’ve covered in some depth in the Faunalytics Library, and many people are looking towards “insect protein” as a potential “solution” to the problem of satisfying the protein needs of a growing global population. The global insect protein market in 2022 was worth over $428 million USD, and with an annual growth rate of about 27%, it’s expected to reach over $1.3 billion in the next few years. There are many obstacles standing in the way of the widespread adoption of insect proteins, especially cultural taboos in Western nations — but considering the industry already affects an estimated 1 trillion animals, even small shifts in cultural acceptance have the potential to affect trillions more."