Crickets (family Gryllidae) are a group of orthopteran insects, such as grasshoppers and “mole” crickets, among others. These animals are known for the sound that the males produce during the warmest nights of the year. In addition, they are a fundamental piece in ecosystems, since a large number of animals feed on them. But what do crickets eat?
In this article on our site we tell you everything you need to know about feeding cricketsWe will talk in detail about the foods they eat in the wild and we will see what foods we can give them in captivity, since cricket breeding has become a very common practice.
Habitat of crickets
To understand what field crickets eat, you need to know exactly where the crickets live. Thus, with few exceptions, crickets are distributed throughout the warm and temperate zones of the world. Unlike grasshoppers, they have a preference for moist places. Some species live in herbaceous areas, while others prefer bush formations or even forests. Most of the species are nocturnal and hide during the day in galleries and dwellings that they build under the ground.
What do crickets eat in their habitat?
What do crickets eat in the ecosystems they inhabit? Most crickets are omnivorous animals. They feed both plants and other animals and are very opportunistic, that is, their diet depends on the food available in the environment. Many crickets eat carrion[1]and some even practice cannibalism when there is little food available[2 ].
This is usually what crickets eat in the wild:
- Sheets
- Seeds
- Stems
- Estate
- Fruits
- Arthropods
- Leaf Litter
- Corpses
What do captive crickets eat?
Some people are forced to raise crickets to feed livestock or when they have decided to care for a wildlife that needed help. In addition, these insects are now farmed for human food, since they contain many high-quality proteins. For this reason, we are going to see what farmed crickets eat and how we should feed them.
Crickets should have a varied and balanced diet. It has to be very rich in protein, but also contain fats, carbohydrates and vitamins. To do this, your diet must be based on whole grains, bran and legumes We can also incorporate some type of animal protein. In addition, we will add small pieces of fresh vegetables and fruits, carrots being the most advisable.
These are some of the foods farmed crickets eat:
- Whole grain or bran flour: wheat, rice, sorghum, corn.
- Legume flour: soybean, bean, chickpea.
- Fish flour.
- Fresh vegetables: spinach, lettuce, squash leaves, bean leaves, corn husks, cassava or cassava leaves.
- Roots: carrot, radish, potato.
- Fruits: apple, pear, watermelon, orange.
Do crickets eat tomatoes?
Yes, crickets can eat tomatoes In fact, some species are considered pests of tomato crops and other solanaceous plants, such as tobacco[3]. However, it is not advisable to abuse the fruits of this family of plants, including eggplant and pepper, as they contain natural insecticides that are toxic to many types of insects[4].
Do crickets eat cockroaches?
Naturally, cockroaches are not a favorite food of crickets. This is because they are also opportunistic animals with a very strong jaw and great speed, making it difficult to hunt them down. However, crickets can eat wounded or dead cockroaches
If, for any reason, you are going to give your crickets a dead insect, make sure beforehand that the cause of death was not an insecticide, as they could die.
How to feed crickets?
In addition to knowing what crickets eat, to feed them properly it is very important to take into account other factors. For example, before giving them fresh vegetables, we must make sure that they do not contain insecticides We will give priority to organic vegetables and wash them very well. In addition, every day, we must remove the food that has not been consumed, avoiding the appearance of fungi.
As for the water, the one contained in the vegetables may suffice. Even so, it is advisable that we add a trough It should not be too deep, as the crickets could drown. We can also give them gel water to avoid this problem.
Cricket feed
If we can't spend much time feeding the crickets, we always have the option of giving them feed. Today, we can find feed for crickets made with different types of flour and seeds. Although it is a suitable food for them, we must combine it with fresh foods so that the crickets are well hydrated.
Some websites recommend giving them feed for pets (dogs, cats, etc.). However, is not recommended at all, as it is not a suitable food for crickets and may contain insecticides or other substances toxic to crickets.
