From forest floor to market door: The global terrestrial invertebrate trade

Abstract

The global terrestrial invertebrate trade is a prominent wildlife market with considerable ecological, economic, and social implications. Invertebrates are used as a food source, to assist agricultural production, and to increase well-being through entertainment and companionship; however, our understanding of the global invertebrate trade remains limited. Consequently, much of this trade involves the wild harvest of animals without due process to determine sustainable harvest rates. We systematically reviewed the global terrestrial invertebrate trade literature, and identified 96 scientific papers discussing their trade, with the majority (85 %) published after 2010. From this literature, we documented 4315 unique species involved in the international terrestrial invertebrate trade, and identified 17 uses for these species driving the global market. The most common uses (i.e., use-types) included pets, food, and preserved antiquities, while more obscure use-types, such as beetle wrestling, alcohol distillation, and scorpion venom for pharmaceutical research, were also identified. Although this global market presents various threats to biosecurity and biodiversity, it also benefits many human populations, particularly economically marginalised rural communities. We recommend that this trade be more widely included in law enforcement policy and wildlife trade regulation to ensure its sustainability into the future.