The World’s Most Threatened Invertebrates

The Zoological Society of London has published Priceless or Worthless? The world’s most threatened species, in which 8,000 scientists from the IUCN Species Survival Commission (IUCN SSC) identified 100 of the most threatened animals, plants and fungi on the planet. Video streaming by Ustream The booklet presents 100 of the most critically endangered species, including the following terrestrial invertebrates:

• Actinote zikani, (see image) a nymphalid butterfly from Brazil, was thought to be extinct until it was rediscoverd in 1991 (pdf).  The only known host plant  is Mikania obsoleta, a rare vine that is threatened by habitat destruction.
• Psorodonotus ebneri, the Beydaglari bush-cricket is from the Beydaglari range of the Taurus Mountains near Antileya, Turkey. It is threatened by loss of habitat.
• Oreocnemis phoenix, the Mulanje red damsel lives on the Malanje Plateau in Malawi. It is threatened by logging and agriculture.
• Parides burchellanus is a butterfly (see images) in the family Papilioindae, living in the Cerrado eco-region of Brazil. It is threatened by habitat degradation due to the spread of human populations.
• Poecilotheria metallica, the Gooty tarantula, is native to Andhra Pradesh, India and is threatened by habitat loss.
• Moominia willii is a tree snail that lives in the axils of the plant Pandanus hornei, endemic in the Seychelles, and threatened by degradation of habitat.
• Hemicycla paeteliana is a terrestrial snail from the Canary Islands, it is threatened by overgrazing and trampling by goats, as well as tourism.
• Bombus franklini, Franklin’s bumblebee, is  from the western United States and is threatened by the spread of agriculture and the pathogen spillover by the commercialization of bumblebees in North America.
• Amanipodagrion gilliesi, the Amani flatwing is a damselfly from the Sigi Forest in east Usambara Mountains in Tanzania. Now only found in the Amani-Sigi Forest Reserve, it may be extinct elsewhere due to forest destruction and water pollution.
• Antisolabis seychellensis is a dermaptid (earwig) endemic to Mahé Island, Seychelles. It is threatened by habitat degradation due to alien plant invasion.
• Risiocnemis seidenschwarzi, the Cebu frill-wing is a damselfly from Cebu island in the Philippines and is threatened by forest clearance.

Priceless or Worthless? The world’s most threatened species. Zoological Society of London, United Kingdom. (Nominations provided and text reviewed by members of the IUCN Species Survival Comission Specialist Groups and Red List Authorities) Priceless or Worthless? (pdf 9.1 MB)

See also, The Little Things that Run the World, on the status of invertebrates: Spineless – Status and trends of the world’s invertebrates report (pdf 10mb).

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