Insect Week

{{Short description|Insect Week: An Initiative to emphasize on importance of insects and entomology}}

Insect Week (formerly National Insect Week) is an initiative originating in the UK. Usually held during the last week of June, the aim is to engage the general public with the importance of insects and entomology. The week is organised by Luke Tilley at the Royal Entomological Society, as well as Insect Festival, and is supported by a large number of partner organisations{{Cite web|url=https://www.insectweek.co.uk/partners|title=Our Partners {{!}} Insect Week|website=www.insectweek.co.uk|access-date=23 March 2021}} concerned with insect science, natural history and conservation. The week consists of hundreds of events and activities across UK, allowing the public to discover insects and meet the entomologists that study them. The popular Insect Week Photography Competition is launched during the week and attracts entries from large numbers of amateur photographers.{{Cite web|url=https://www.insectweek.co.uk/photography|title=Photography {{!}} Insect Week|website=www.insectweek.co.uk|access-date=23 March 2021}} As well as promoting the importance of insect science to the wider public, Insect Week particularly aims to encourage young people into entomology.[https://www.insectweek.co.uk Insect Week website]

Past Insect Week campaigns have been endorsed by the Prince of Wales, Prof David Bellamy OBE, Chris Packham, Kate Humble and Mike Dilger, in 2014 the week was launched by Jonathan Ross.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2014/june/jonathan-ross-launches-national-insect-week-at-the-museum.html|title=Jonathan Ross launches National Insect Week at the Museum|website=www.nhm.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2019-11-15}} In 2022 to mark the start of the week, Writers Rebel's Paint the Land team produced a short film 'Almost Invisible Angels' based on Jay Griffiths’s dreamtime, narrated by Sir Mark Rylance.{{cite web |title=Almost Invisible Angels |url=https://www.painttheland.org/almostinvisibleangels |website=painttheland.org |publisher=Writers Rebel |access-date=15 August 2022}}

The next Insect Week will be 23 to 29 June 2025.{{Cite web |title=23 - 29 June 2025 |url=https://www.insectweek.org/ |access-date=2024-08-15 |website=Insect Week |language=en-GB}}