Comparison of diets for mass-rearing Acheta domesticus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) as a novelty food, and comparison of food conversion efficiency with values reported for livestock

As part of research on mass-rearing the cricket Acheta domesticus (L.) as a novelty (innovative) food, four cricket diets, two prepared in the laboratory and two commercial, were compared on the basis of cost per kilogram (wet weight) of eighth instars produced. Costs were influenced by dietary ingredients, mean cricket wet weight at time of harvest, and feed/gain ratios. For the laboratory-prepared diets, crickets grown on Patton's diet no. 16 or on NRC reference chick diet averaged 0.443 and 0.418 g at time of harvest, with feed/gain ratios of 0.923 and 0.949, respectively. Because of the cost of ingredients, however, the cost per kilogram of live crickets produced was only $0.21 for the NRC chick diet compared with $2.55 for Patton's no. 16; these costs exclude the cost of labor for mixing the diets. Performance of crickets on the laboratory-prepared diets was somewhat better than performance on the commercial diets. The food conversion efficiency of crickets at 30 degrees C or higher was found to be higher than reported for broiler chicks and pigs and much higher than those reported for sheep and cattle