Research on invasive insects (and other terrestrial invertebrates) is seeing an increasing number of contributions from various areas of ecological and evolutionary research such as population genetics, distribution modelling, functional traits and life-history studies. While much of the current understanding of biological invasions is based on studies using plants, vertebrates and other taxa, insects and other terrestrial invertebrates provide important comparisons and tests of established hypotheses. We are proposing a workshop to examine general theory of invasive insects through investigating agricultural pests, biocontrol agents, vectors of human disease and threats to ecosystem function.