Alarming projections of biodiversity loss indicate that the planet has entered the sixth mass extinction. Only a small fraction of species on Earth have been formally described and assigned a (Linnean) scientific name in particular insects and many of those are likely to go extinct before we even know of their existence. The incompleteness of our current census of life, sometimes referred as the “Linnean shortfall”, is generally considered to be especially acute in the least studied and most diverse groups (e.g. invertebrates, microorganisms), and in the most remote areas, which often have the highest diversity (e.g. inter-tropical regions). The increasing incorporation of genetic tools (DNA barcoding) into the delineation of species further exacerbates this deficit, frequently revealing cryptic species that have been overlooked due to morphological similarity. Here I will present my latest results on how we can take advantage of recent developments in DNA(meta)barcoding to monitor insect diversity and understand the ecological impact of anthropogenic disturbances.