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Fruitful female fecundity after feeding Gryllodes sigillatus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) royal jelly
Dietary honey bee royal jelly increases insect growth rates and adult body size. Royal jelly as a dietary supplement could enhance mass insect production by increasing the body size of mass-reared model species. To determine the effect of royal jelly on a cricket species, Gryllodes sigillatus Walker...
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Published in: | Canadian entomologist 2022, Vol.154 (1), Article e50 |
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Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Citations: | Items that this one cites |
Online Access: | Get full text |
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Summary: | Dietary honey bee royal jelly increases insect growth rates and adult body size. Royal jelly as a dietary supplement could enhance mass insect production by increasing the body size of mass-reared model species. To determine the effect of royal jelly on a cricket species,
Gryllodes sigillatus
Walker (Orthoptera: Gryllidae), farmed for human consumption, we ran two experiments. We tested the dose-dependent response of
G. sigillatus
to royal jelly using a range of diets across 0–30% w/w royal jelly. We also measured the individual-level life history responses to royal jelly over time by individually rearing
G. sigillatus
nymphs on two separate diets: half were fed a commercial cricket diet, and half were fed the same diet mixed with 15% w/w fresh royal jelly. We found sex-dependent effects: females fed the royal jelly diet were 30% heavier, and this effect was driven by significantly longer abdomens containing 67% more eggs compared to those fed the standard diet. Female mass was optimised at approximately 17% w/w royal jelly. Our results reveal that although a royal jelly dietary supplement can increase the yield of mass-reared insects, the life history responses are species and sex specific. |
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ISSN: | 0008-347X 1918-3240 |
DOI: | 10.4039/tce.2022.39 |