Crickets are omnivores meaning they eat insects, fruit, leaves, and anything else they can find. Their mighty jaws let them eat and chew anything that happens to be nearby. Crickets eat different food depending on their environment. Ultimately, whether the crickets live inside or outside will determine their diet.
The diet of outdoor crickets includes:
- Grass
- Plants
- Vegetables
- Fruits
- Flowers
- Leaves
- Alive or dead insects
The diet of indoor crickets includes:
- Fabric
- Synthetic fibers
- Wool/cotton (natural fibers)
- Wheat/rice (grains)
- Carpet
- Crumbs of food
- Clothes
- Dead insects
- Rotting food
- Cardboard/plastic/items with cellulose
What animals do crickets eat?
Crickets tend to target smaller insects. When eating insects, they prefer eating on dead insects but will target live insects if they need to.
When eating live insects, they will target those that are dying, hurt, or vulnerable first.
Crickets will even resort to cannibalism, eating other crickets when food is scarce.
Generally, crickets eat small insects, such as the following:
- Spiders
- Ants
- Earwigs
- Flies
- Wasps
- Ground beetles
- Stinkbugs
- Silverfish
- Cockroaches
Crickets generally prey upon dead or small insects. However, they also consume small insects that are still alive.
What vegetables do crickets eat?
Crickets generally avoid eating vegetables unless they are bruised, rotting, or decaying. They will rarely target vegetables that are still growing due to their thick skin.
Some vegetables they’ll eat include the following:
- Potatoes
- Leafy greens
- Carrots
- Squash
What fruit do crickets eat?
Crickets consume just about any available fruit. Unfortunately, this generally entails decaying fruit that has dropped on the floor.
Fruit that crickets eat include:
- Mangoes
- Coconuts
- Lemons
- Apples
- Pears
- Indian Gooseberry
- Almonds
- Apricots
What Plants Do Crickets Eat?
Crickets will eat the leaves of almost any plants that they land on. They are omnivores that will feed on any part of the plant to survive.
Crickets will eat leaves, stems, roots, and seeds of almost any plant, including grass, barley, vegetable plants, fruit plants, barley, or wheat.
When eating plants, crickets tend to target areas of the plants that are rotting, decaying, or damaged.
What Flowers Do Crickets Eat?
Crickets don’t typically feed on flowers. Instead, crickets are more likely to feed on the leaves or stems around the flower before they feed on the flower. The one exception is that crickets will feed on decaying petals if they fall to the floor.
The diet of crickets is highly dependent on their environment. This means if flowers are a common food source, they may resort to feeding on them.
If this is the case, they will likely feed on any flowers as long as they are decaying or rotting.
How Do Crickets Eat?
Crickets use mandibles within their moths to slice, smash, or hold onto an insect as food. Mandibles are also great for protection from predators and holding food in place while slicing it.
Do Crickets Eat Grasshoppers?
Yes, crickets can eat grasshoppers. Crickets tend to feed on dead grasshoppers more often than feed on live crickets.
Larger species of crickets are more likely to feed on grasshoppers than smaller species. This is because they are more likely to encounter grasshoppers, and they also can do so. For example, Jerusalem crickets, Mormon crickets, field crickets, and king crickets are more likely to eat grasshoppers.
Do Crickets Eat Spiders?
As omnivores, crickets do consume spiders, particularly younger and small ones. Spiders within the process of molting are also common targets.
However, some cricket species, like Jerusalem crickets and field crickets, do eat bigger spiders. Meanwhile, regular house crickets generally eat smaller spider species.
What Do Crickets Eat Inside The House?
Most people don’t realize that crickets can survive indoors. There are plenty of food sources indoors that crickets allow cricket to survive.
Indoors crickets will consume the following:
- Carpet
- Food crumbs
- Clothes
- Fabric
- Wool/cotton (natural fibers)
- Cardboard/plastic (items with cellulose)
- Wheat/rice (grains)
- Synthetic fibers
- Dead insects
- Rotted food in the trash
What Do Crickets Eat in the Garden?
In gardens, crickets can consume leaves, roots, fruit, dying organic matter, or even other insects. Crickets are commonly found living inside and around gardens due to the readily available food sources and high moisture.
What Do Crickets Eat In The Desert?
As omnivores, crickets have expansive diets. Generally, they consume fungus, plant material, and dying plant matter in the wild. Crickets can also eat fruit matter, vegetable matter, and tinier bugs.
What Do Crickets Eat in the Wild?
Crickets are omnivores that will feed on a variety of food sources depending on their environment and availability. Feed on in the wild generally eat meats, fruits, and plants
Are There Any Exclusively Carnivorous Crickets?
Collectively, crickets are omnivores that consume animals and plants for survival purposes. However, a few crickets are exclusively carnivores.
The Neo Scapteriscus borellii (also known as the Southern mole cricket) has shovel-like forelimbs, hence permitting top-notch burrowing. These crickets are the biggest and most dangerous in North America.
These insects are viewed as carnivores because their diets lean more towards pasture, turf, and dead grasses. By contrast, Southern mole crickets don’t usually eat plant matter.
Scientific research shows that Southern mole crickets generally eat animals within soil and insects. This typically means larvae, worms, and ants. Therefore, these crickets are viewed as predacious, seeing as they generally eat plant matter if they can’t get to insects.
How Long Can Crickets Live Without Food?
During adulthood, crickets’ lifespan is about eight to ten weeks. Research has proven that crickets can go without food for 14 days. This mirrors the amount of time that insects can live without water.
Do Crickets Need Water?
Like other animals, water is a must for crickets’ survival. They can go weeks without it. However, crickets in captivity should not be deprived of water. Carers of pet crickets should provide water in a way that these insects can consume without drowning.
Baby crickets especially need wet sponges in order to safely drink water.
What Predators Do Crickets Have?
Several different reptile, bird, mammal, and amphibian species are predators to cricket for nutrition reasons.
Mammals that are predators to crickets include mice, bats, humans, shrews, and rats.
Bird predators to crickets are wrens, sparrows, bluebirds, and crows.
Lizards and snakes are the two reptile predators that crickets have to look out for.
Amphibian predators include toads and frogs.
Finally, other insects that can prey on crickets are wasps, mantis species, ground beetles, and spiders.