“Justice for the living”: 5 species of insects threatened in France

Biodiversity is collapsing. Is the French government largely responsible? Five environmental organizations are convinced it is. They launched the "Justice for the Living" case, which was examined on Friday, June 6 by the Paris Administrative Court of Appeal.

Accusing the State of "culpable failure" in the face of the decline in biodiversity, the associations (1) are calling for a reform of the process of evaluation and authorization for the marketing of pesticides, carried out by the French National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES). The legal action, which began in 2022, is now taking place in the context of the Duplomb law, which could reintroduce a much-criticized neonicotinoid, accused in particular of decimating bees .

Contrary to the theory that pesticides only affect certain species classified as " pests " , a study in the journal Nature , published in February 2025, shows that pesticides, insecticides and fungicides have a harmful impact on more than 800 "non-target species".

Among them, many insects. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that in France, 12% of dragonflies and damselflies, 6% of butterflies, 22% of mayflies, and nearly 40% of bee species are threatened by human activity: landscape uniformity, pesticides, land artificialization, climate change, etc. Here are five insect species classified as vulnerable or critically endangered.

Elongated wings outlined in brown, plain in males, punctuated with light spots in females. Last seen in 1997 in the south of France. This is the wanted poster for the bluestem skipper, a butterfly found throughout the Mediterranean.

The urbanization of the Côte d'Azur and frequent fires have significantly degraded the insect's habitat, or habitat. It has been over 25 years since the moth was last observed.

In Greek mythology, Melibea is a young girl " saved by the gods ." Who will save the butterfly, on the brink of extinction, that bears her name? The pretty nymphalidae, with orange wings adorned with a silver crescent speckled with black and white and red carnations, still survives in some damp Jura meadows, in the mid-mountains, where it likes to lay its eggs in the grass.

Since the 1980s, its population has been declining as its habitat has been destroyed, dried out by the drainage of wetlands and replaced by conifer plantations.

A beautiful young lady with a metallic green and turquoise adornment, highlighted by a clear line, the precious goddess is all the more so because she is classified as critically endangered in France, according to the National Inventory of Natural Heritage (INPN). Her favorite habitat, the stagnant water of ponds, slightly acidic lakes and other peat bogs , are endangered by human development.

Water pollution, invasive species, clogged ponds, and destroyed peat bogs—all threats that harm dragonflies. These predators, however, prove very useful in regulating mosquito populations and, in turn, constitute a prime delicacy for insectivorous birds.

While the IUCN is currently working on developing a first red list for wild bees in France, there is little doubt about the danger facing the Halictus carinthiacus, a wild bee endemic to the French, Austrian, Italian, Slovenian and Swiss Alps.

Although it doesn't produce honey, this wild bee performs another important task: fertilizing flowering plants. A vital link in pollination, it is therefore a worker in our food chain. Attacked by pesticides, this bee, which initially nests in the soil, sees its habitat destroyed by the shovels of artificialization.

Like the Halictus carinthiacus, the velvety bumblebee is a species of wild bee, albeit plumper and hairier. Already considered extinct in Belgium and Switzerland, the velvety bumblebee, recognizable by its glowing red back, also deserts the wide lawns and dunes of continental France.

This competitive pollinator, capable of flying for longer periods than bees, is becoming extinct as the availability of floral resources in agricultural areas diminishes and the structure of the landscape is transformed.