Growth, development, and life history of a mass-reared edible insect, <i>Gryllodes sigillatus</i> (Orthoptera: Gryllidae)

Edible insects offer a viable alternative protein source to help meet the protein demands of a growing population. Optimizing insect mass-rearing for food and feed production depends on an understanding of insect life history. However, supporting data on growth, development, and reproduction from hatch to adulthood is often not available for many farmed insects, such as the decorated cricket (Gryllodes sigillatus Walk.). Here, we describe the life history of G. sigillatus from hatch to adulthood at 30 °C for traits relevant for mass-rearing and colony management. Female crickets first reached adulthood after 29 d and weighed 292.0 mg ± 74.09 mg, and male crickets first reached adulthood after 35 d and weighed 200.96 mg ± 34.51 mg. Crickets had 7 nymphal instars most characterizable by head width. Sex was identified by the development of ovipositors in females, and wings in both sexes. Crickets oviposited 56.74 ± 31.77 eggs every 48 h over 30 d and eggs hatched after 10.6 ± 0.5 d. This information provides the foundation to start and manage a cricket colony, to conduct research on life history and performance, and to facilitate practitioners to make informed decisions about rearing practices or identify arising issues. We highlight ways that a fundamental understanding of cricket biology can be informative for optimizing cricket growth, reducing variability in yield, and informing future precision farming practices.