Résumé
Insects are among the most diverse and abundant organisms on Earth, and they play a major role in ecosystem functioning. To protect them from decline, some conservation measures have been put in place, based primarily on threatened species lists. This is the case in Europe, where 123 of the 105,000 known European insect species are currently protected. Yet how were these few species selected? Are those species representative of the European entomofauna? Is it possible for a conservation policy based on the protection of only 0.12% of described species to be effective?In this study, we aimed to measure bias in the selection of species for conservation by comparing protected and unprotected species in Europe. To this end, we considered 15 characteristics divided into five main categories: ‘Taxonomy’, ‘Morphology’, ‘Diet’, ‘Knowledge’ and ‘Distribution’. We investigated bias in species selection and found that protected species were significantly larger, better known, more widespread and more multicoloured than a randomly selected set of unprotected species. Moreover, butterflies, dragonflies and grasshoppers were overrepresented, as were nectarivorous and saproxylophagous species. In contrast, Hymenopterans and Dipterans, together representing > 40% of European entomofauna, do not appear on the current list of protected species.To address this bias, we propose recommendations to improve the protection of insects at the European scale, including making lists more ‘dynamic’, introducing new criteria, and a paradigm shift towards conserving assemblages and ecological function. Existing technical and societal means could be used to achieve an integrative conservation approach for insects.