Plummeting numbers of bees, butterflies and other insect populations are placing world food supplies under threat, a United Nations report has warned.
Millions of people's livelihoods are also at risk, researchers say.
The first global assessment of creatures that pollinate crops found up to two in five are sliding towards extinction.
Pesticides, urbanisation, intensive farming, disease and climate change are among the threats to apples, blueberries, coffee, chocolate and other crops worth up to £400billion a year. The food sector also provides millions of jobs, while the vitamins and minerals in key crops help keep malnutrition at bay.
Vera Lucia Imperatriz-Fonseca, the study's Brazilian co-chairman, said: 'Pollinators are important contributors to world food production and nutritional security. Their health is directly linked to our own well-being.'