In the shadowy corners of the multibillion-dollar global wildlife industry, a quiet but flourishing market is often overlooked. As media and regulatory attention focuses primarily on illegal and unsustainable trade in high-profile wild animal species, parts, and products (e.g., live parrots, elephant ivory, and tiger bone pharmaceuticals), millions of live and dead invertebrates are also being transported and sold across international borders each year. From harvester ants prized for their complex behaviors, to dinner plate–sized tarantulas sold as pets, to pinned and framed jewel-toned butterflies and beetles—this commerce represents one of the most neglected facets of global wildlife trade. Indeed, demand for rare and unusual arthropods (invertebrates with exoskeletons and segmented bodies) is growing, with troubling implications for conservation and animal welfare.
Popular arthropods in the exotic pet trade include Madagascar hissing cockroaches, Chilean rose hair tarantulas, Southeast Asian stick insects, iridescent beetles, and boldly patterned butterflies and moths. A tiny proportion of these sought-after species—such as the majestically horned Satanas beetle and the Malabar rose butterfly, with its crimson-accented black-and-white wings—are listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Specimens of Appendix II–listed species in trade must be accompanied by an export permit, which is to be granted only if the source country has determined that the trade is not detrimental to the species’ population.
However, the vast majority of arthropods in trade are unprotected—a problem not only for them but also for the protected species that are easily smuggled among them (and often intentionally mislabeled as unprotected species to avoid trade regulations). Most customs officials have no training in identifying invertebrates, and smuggling is much easier when your cargo fits inside an envelope.
Conservation implications
Invertebrates exist in enormous numbers relative to vertebrate species, but their apparent abundance masks a critical gap in our understanding of their population levels. Many coveted insects and spiders are highly sensitive to temperature and humidity changes, resulting in restricted ranges that make them even more susceptible to overcollection. Yet population and distribution data for most species are so poor that it is nearly impossible to assess the true ecological impact of trade in them. Removing numerous individuals from these relatively confined habitats, though, reduces a species’ ability to recolonize areas after local extinctions or adapt to environmental shifts—even as climate change renders these shifts more rapid and pronounced.
Tarantulas are a case in point. CITES currently regulates trade in only 36 species of spiders, yet there are more than a thousand known species of tarantulas alone. Many tarantula species have become prized targets in recent decades and are often advertised in online forums and shipped by mail order. Like Pokémon card fans, enthusiasts are driven by the desire to “collect them all,” sometimes amassing collections of hundreds of tarantulas of different colors, sizes, and patterns.
But this passion has real-world implications. Tarantulas are long-lived—up to 30 years—and reproduce slowly, making them vulnerable to overexploitation in the same way elephant and whale populations have been decimated by unrestricted demand. Like their leviathan counterparts, tarantulas are also imperiled by other forms of human disturbance, including habitat destruction and climate change, which, as noted above, can be particularly devastating to species with limited natural ranges.
The large and striking Mexican redknee tarantula provides a cautionary example. Once abundant in pet stores worldwide, decades of unrestricted collection combined with destruction or fragmentation of its tropical forest habitat for agriculture, urban development, and road building have led to significant population declines. The species is now listed on CITES Appendix II, but its slow maturation rate makes recovery challenging.
Welfare implications
Unlike mammals and birds, insects, and spiders cannot vocalize distress in ways humans easily recognize, and most cultures do not concern themselves with whether “bugs” are sentient and experience pain. Ensuring the well-being of captive individuals is challenging even for well-intentioned keepers who educate themselves about dietary or environmental needs such as temperature and humidity. Furthermore, high mortality rates are taken in stride by many private collectors as, compared to other exotic pets, most invertebrates are relatively cheap and easy to replace.
Post-purchase deaths are only the tip of the iceberg, however. For every wild-caught invertebrate that survives long enough to reach a collector, countless more die in capture or transit. Many spiders, for example, are collected in large numbers as tiny spiderlings and shipped in small containers—or even mailed in envelopes. Larger specimens fare little better: In 2024, a smuggler was intercepted at a Peruvian airport with hundreds of tarantulas destined for South Korea crammed into small plastic tubes and bags strapped to his body. Two years earlier, smugglers tried to transport more than 230 tarantulas from Colombia to Europe in a single suitcase.
With CITES currently covering only a few invertebrate species, international regulations have failed to address the scope and complexity of the global trade in these animals. With this pressing need in mind, AWI is eagerly anticipating the Twentieth meeting of the CITES Conference of the Parties, beginning in late November in Uzbekistan, where member nations will consider proposals from Bolivia and Panama to regulate trade in 15 more species of tarantulas, including the magnificent Bolivian blue leg and Guyana pinktoe. To support this effort to bring the unseen impacts of the invertebrate trade to international attention and secure protection for its most vulnerable victims, we have established a new working group within the Species Survival Network, an international coalition of over 90 NGOs dedicated to strengthening CITES implementation and enforcement.
In addition to advocating adoption of the new CITES proposals and identifying insects and arachnids that qualify for future listings on CITES appendices, the working group will focus on raising public awareness and improving training and resources for enforcement agencies to identify invertebrate species in trade. These remarkable animals are not just commodities and curiosities; they are integral parts of complex natural ecosystems with intrinsic value and specific welfare needs. As we expand our moral consideration to nonhuman animals, these tiny (and not so tiny) creatures with six, eight, or dozens of legs remind us that size is not the measure of significance.