•   Extinct in the wild (EW): 1 species
•   Critically endangered (CR): 195 species
•   Endangered (EN): 343 species
•   Vulnerable (VU): 608 species
•   Near threatened (NT, LR/cd): 301 species
•   Least concern (LC): 2,843 species
•   Data deficient (DD): 1,702 species

Insect species (IUCN, 2016.1)

• 5993 extant species have been evaluated
• 4291 of those are fully assessed^{[lower-alpha 1]}
• 3144 are not threatened at present^{[lower-alpha 2]}
• 1146 to 2848 are threatened^{[lower-alpha 3]}
• 59 to 105 are extinct or extinct in the wild:
  • 58 extinct (EX) species^{[lower-alpha 4]}
  • 1 extinct in the wild (EW)
  • 46 possibly extinct [CR(PE)]
  • 0 possibly extinct in the wild [CR(PEW)]

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1. ↑ excludes data deficient evaluations.
2. ↑ NT, LR/cd, LC.
3. ↑ Threatened comprises CR, EN and VU. Upper estimate additionally includes DD.
4. ↑ Chart omits extinct (EX) species

Vulnerable (VU) species are considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.

In July 2016, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed 608 vulnerable insect species.^[1] Of all evaluated insect species, 10% are listed as vulnerable. The IUCN also lists 15 insect subspecies as vulnerable.

No subpopulations of insects have been evaluated by the IUCN.

For a species to be assessed as vulnerable to extinction the best available evidence must meet quantitative criteria set by the IUCN designed to reflect "a high risk of extinction in the wild". Endangered and critically endangered species also meet the quantitative criteria of vulnerable species, and are listed separately. See: List of endangered insects, List of critically endangered insects. Vulnerable, endangered and critically endangered species are collectively referred to as threatened species by the IUCN.

Additionally 1702 insect species (28% of those evaluated) are listed as data deficient, meaning there is insufficient information for a full assessment of conservation status. As these species typically have small distributions and/or populations, they are intrinsically likely to be threatened, according to the IUCN.^[2] While the category of data deficient indicates that no assessment of extinction risk has been made for the taxa, the IUCN notes that it may be appropriate to give them "the same degree of attention as threatened taxa, at least until their status can be assessed".^[3]

This is a complete list of vulnerable insect species and subspecies as evaluated by the IUCN.

Coleoptera

There are 50 beetle species assessed as vulnerable.

Diptera

Hymenoptera

There are 155 species in the order Hymenoptera assessed as vulnerable.

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera comprises moths and butterflies. There are 128 species and ten subspecies in the order Lepidoptera assessed as vulnerable.

Mantodea

Notoptera

• Mount St Helens' grylloblattid (Grylloblatta chirurgica)

Odonata

Odonata includes dragonflies and damselflies. There are 129 species and five subspecies in the order Odonata assessed as vulnerable.

Orthoptera

There are 137 species in the order Orthoptera assessed as vulnerable.

Phasmatodea

• Peppermint stick insect (Megacrania batesii)

Plecoptera

• Otway stonefly (Eusthenia nothofagi)
• Mount Kosciusko wingless stonefly (Leptoperla cacuminis)

See also

• Lists of IUCN Red List vulnerable species
• List of least concern insects
• List of near threatened insects
• List of endangered insects
• List of critically endangered insects
• List of recently extinct insects
• List of data deficient insects

References