In one two-week stint, a Charles Darwin University PhD graduate found 500 species of insects in 292,800 hectare Nitmiluk National Park, most of them new to science.

Dr Stefanie Oberprieler said it was extremely likely Katherine residents would come across unique insect life themselves.

"It is incredible exciting, the whole area has never really been surveyed."

She wants the search for new insects at Nitmiluk and in the Top End to be included in wildlife surveys undertaken for conservation planning.

She said insects were the backbone of biodiversity, comprising about 80 per cent of animal species and playing crucial roles in the health and stability of the wider environment, but were often overlooked in wildlife surveys.

Dr Oberprieler's thesis focused on native ants, beetles, flies and spiders throughout Northern Australia, largely in Kakadu and Nitmiluk national parks.

"This region is a seriously understudied hot spot," Dr Oberprieler said.

She said her research recorded hundreds of insects and spiders, with more than 75 per cent undescribed or new to science.

"Worldwide, insects are becoming extinct at an alarming rate."

She said areas such as Nitmiluk and Kakadu hold an undiscovered biodiversity richness and we may be losing species before we even know they exist.

"We can't conserve what we don't know, and when it comes to insects we really don't know much at all."

Dr Oberprieler worked to improve the understanding of the diversity and distribution patterns of insects and spiders and to identify practical ways of documenting them in the context of conservation planning.

Her field trip at Nitmiluk was held over two weeks during 2015 where helicopters dropped her and other scientists at increasingly remote locations as they trapped insects.

Her work since then has been at the lab sorting her finds, and checking with excited experts across the world about their identity.

Most of them have never been seen before.

Conservation efforts are typically targeted at vertebrates - mostly birds, mammals, reptiles and frogs - under the assumption their conservation would protect insects automatically.

"When it comes to management decisions, it's important we consider vertebrates and insects equally, and to do that we need direct data on insect diversity patterns," Dr Oberprieler said.

"Insects must be included in wildlife surveys as they are extremely important to the ecosystem. We can't keep putting them in the 'too-hard basket'. There are sampling shortcuts to help overcome issues land managers face when dealing with the vast number of species.

"We need to kick start action plans to include insects in the first place. Hopefully this will set a precedent to build a brighter future for their conservation efforts."

Dr Oberprieler has a Bachelor in Zoology and Ecology (Hons) and worked at the CSIRO's Australian National Insect Collection.

Her thesis was titled "Incorporating terrestrial invertebrates in conservation planning: diversity, distribution and cross-taxon congruence in an Australian tropical savanna landscape".

And if you do happen to find an insect you believe may be rare, the advice is to contact CDU or a local field naturalists' group.

While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox each Friday at 6am from the Katherine Times. To make sure you're up to date with all the news, sign up here.