Are there insects that have gone extinct?

Even though it seems that there are ten times more insects on this planet than humans, there are insects that go extinct. Some of these include the Caribbean Monk Seal Nasal Mite, Cascade Funnel-Web Spider, and the Rocky Mountain Locust, to name a few. It seems that the insects become extinct when they can’t find food anymore.

For instance, the Caribbean Monk Seal Nasal Mite feeds off of the body of the Caribbean Monk Seal. When this seal became extinct, so did the mite. As a matter of fact, the seal became extinct a century ago. The Cascade Funnel-Web Spider lived only in Australia. The Cascade Funnel-Web Spider only lives in one place and when that place became more commercialized, this spider couldn’t survive.

It may seem as though there is no shortage of insects in the world, and this may be true... However, there have been several species of insects to go extinct—even recently. The Atossa fritillary butterfly is one such case. It is native to mountainous areas of southern California but has not been seen since 1960.

Researchers are unsure of the cause of extinction. Another insect that has been declared extinct is the Rocky Mountain Grasshopper and the Xerces Butterfly. Both of these insect populations died off in the mid 1800s at a relatively quick rate.

The problem with insects and tracking their populations is the fact they're small, easy to kill, and usually don't have trackers. This means that efforts to save insects are important for everyone to pay attention to—not just scientists.