What Do Crickets Eat? A Peek at Omnivorous Scavengers

What do crickets eat? If you've ever heard these little insects chirping in grassy areas or dark places, you might have wondered what fuels their busy lives. It turns out these opportunistic feeders will munch on almost anything to stay healthy.

Crickets are omnivores, meaning they consume both plant matter and animal matter. The natural cricket diet consists of fresh fruits, vegetables and even dead insects.

Whether we’re talking about house crickets, field crickets or spider crickets, their wide-ranging diet makes them an important part of many ecosystems.

Contents

A Cricket’s Natural Diet: Plants, Insects and More
Feeding Pet Crickets: What to Offer and What to Avoid
Crickets as Omnivores
Crickets in the Ecosystem: Pest Control and Survival

A Cricket’s Natural Diet: Plants, Insects and More

In the wild, crickets eat a varied diet that includes decaying organic matter, dead plant matter and even insect larvae.

Some cricket species, like true crickets and cave crickets, eat smaller insects like aphids, making them useful for pest control in some environments.

A balanced diet for crickets includes both organic material and natural fibers. Keeping crickets in their natural habitat helps ensure they get the right food sources to stay healthy and maintain a stable cricket population.

Feeding Pet Crickets: What to Offer and What to Avoid

Pet crickets need a nutritious diet to stay hydrated and thrive. Many people feed crickets dry cat food, dog food, or even fish flakes as a protein source.

Feeder crickets — those raised to be food for reptiles and other pets — are often gut-loaded, meaning they are fed nutrient-rich foods to pass on to the animals that eat them.

To keep pet crickets hydrated, place shallow dishes of water with cotton balls to prevent drowning. Reducing moisture levels and maintaining proper humidity levels in their environment can also help prevent crickets from becoming unhealthy due to mold exposure.

Crickets as Omnivores

Crickets remain one of nature’s most adaptable insects because they eat a little bit of everything. In addition to natural cricket diet staples like leafy greens and fresh fruits, they also consume food scraps and even organic matter found in their environment.

House crickets (Acheta domesticus) are particularly known for their ability to eat a variety of foods. While pet food and plant matter are common food items, these little insects will also snack on other insects or smaller creatures when given the chance!

Crickets in the Ecosystem: Pest Control and Survival

The cricket diet plays an essential role in breaking down decaying organic matter and helping to recycle nutrients in many habitats. Crickets typically eat insects that have already died and other decomposing materials, making them an important part of the natural world.

Because crickets are such opportunistic feeders, their diet allows them to survive in a range of conditions. From pest control in gardens to feeder insects for reptiles, crickets contribute to the balance of various ecosystems and food chains.

We created this article in conjunction with AI technology, then made sure it was fact-checked and edited by a HowStuffWorks editor.