BIOLOCICAL
anid
TOX ICOLOCICAL
'VOTE~S on Ihe HOUSE~ CRICKE~T
Paul M. Nix and Max H Bass
--D
October 1973
Agricultural Experiment Station / Auburn 
University
R Dennis Rouse, Director 
Auburn, Alabama
Leaflet 86
HOUSE CRICKETS (Acheta domesticus
L.) are mass reared commercially for
laboratory use and fish bait. Mass rear-
ing techniques were described by
Swingle (1945).
1 
Commercial growers
often encounter high mortality in their
cultures, and insecticidal residues in com-
mercial feeds have been a suspected
cause. The following tests were con-
ducted to clear up this relationship and
to obtain certain biological data.
A laboratory culture was started with
house cricket eggs obtained from a com-
mercial cricket grower. These were
placed in screen-covered No. 2 wash
tubs and held in a rearing room at ca.
800 F, 90% RH, and constant light. The
eggs (which were laid in a shallow pan
of moist sand) hatched 14 to 17 days
after oviposition. Nymphal instars re-
quired 8.5 to 9 weeks. Chicken laying
mash, commonly used in commercial
cricket production, was supplied as food
for immature and adult forms. Water
was furnished in chick watering troughs
which were filled with porous plastic
foam to prevent drowning.
Head capsuile widths of nymphs and
adults were measured. The adults were
dimorphic in respect to size, the female
being larger than the male. By grouping
the head capsule measurements of thou-
' Swingle, H. S. 1945. Raising Crickets
for Bait. Ala. Poly. Inst. Agr. Exp. Sta.
Leaflet No. 22.
sands of nymphs, it was shown that they
fell into six groups, see table. When
the means of these measurements were
plotted against six-instar development, a
near straight line was obtained. Acheta
domesticus appears to have six nymphal
instars when reared under the described
conditions.
Daily food consumption of adults and
immature forms was measured by weigh-
ing food before and after exposure to
individually caged crickets of each im-
mature instar or adults. All tests were
replicated and controls were provided.
Food consumption by first and second
instar crickets were not measurable us-
ing this technique. Third-, fourth-, fifth-,
and sixth-instar crickets consumed the
following average amounts per day re-
spectively: 7.3, 10.9, 8.4, and 12.4 mg.
Adults (5 days after emergence) con-
sumed an average of 23.9 mg per day.
Toxicity studies were conducted by
exposing 5-day-old Acheta domestious
adults to food treated with various rates of
each of 4 insecticides. Field grade mala-
thion (50% EC), diazinon (25% EC),
chlordane (44% EC), and carbaryl (80%
SP) were used. Various quantities of each
insecticide were mixed with 100 ml of
water. Each mixture was then added to
100 g of food and thoroughly mixed.
The food-insecticide mixture was allowed
to dry for 24 hours and then ground with
a mortar and pestle to give the original
HEAD CAPSULE MEASUREMENTS OF IMMATURE HOUSE CRICKETS SHOWING RANGES FOR THE
VARIOUS INSTARS AND MEANS OF THESE RANGES (IN MM)
Instar 1 Instar II Instar III Instar IV Instar V Instar 
VI
Range
Mean
.644-.736 1.196-1.656 2.208-2.760 2.990-3.588 3.680-3.956 
4.140-5.060
.686 1.516 
2.371 3.869 
3.762 4.2393
r~~-lm rrl rrr~v Frlr nrrlwrl~ n~ Ch;~vr Ic;l
90
80
70
60
S50
0 40
30
20
I0
PPM in Food
mortality curves of chlordane, malathion, 
and diazinon to adult house
consistency. Each rate of the insecticide-
food mixture was then used as the 
food
source in a cage of 20, 5-day-old adult
crickets. At the end of 72 hours mortality
data were taken. After preliminary 
tests,
four effective rates (and an untreated
check) were again used for each insecti-
cide and the resulting doseage-mortality
data were plotted (Figures 1 
and 2).
The LD-50's for chlordane, diazinon,
malathion, and carbaryl were, 
respec-
tively: 8, 11, 9.5, and 2,050 ppm. 
Resi-
dual deposits approaching these 
amounts
in commercially prepared feeds 
would
be extremely hazardous to crickets.
90
80-
70
60
50 -
40-
30o
20-
0 I 2 4 6 8
Thousands of PPM in Food
Fig. 2. Dosage mortality curve of carbaryl
to adult house crickets.
Fig. 1. Dosage
crickets.
I L I / //
0.1
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