Crickets are found worldwide, including in the United States, where 120 species are found. Crickets live in different habitats, including wetlands, marshes, deserts, woodlands, dunes, and temperate equatorial and polar areas. Due to their reliance on plant material for food, they can only live in humid regions with diverse plant life.
The bulk of cricket species are vulnerable insects. They are masked to integrate into their environments and rely on their powerful back legs to escape danger.
If you want to know about crickets and what eats crickets, keep reading this article. There are many predators of crickets that eat crickets.
Spiders:
Spiders are known as arachnids because of their multi segmented bodies. Along with Antarctica, all the continents come within their vast habitat range.
When you desire to use pest control, even the most common house spider you see nesting in your house is a great defence mechanism. Being meat-eaters, almost all spiders eat insects, such as moths, flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches, ants, and crickets. It is important to note that most spider species do not attack or bite people; each has its selected cuisine.
Although not all spiders consume crickets, they are a necessary meal source for spiders. They utilise a variety of web-spinning and environmental hiding as part of their hunting strategy. When they are near the cricket, they will thrust on it, supported by the fang-like protrusions on their jaws. These extensions let the spider destroy and grab its prey. They tend to be selective feeders and will only ingest live prey or creatures they have just swallowed; they avoid eating insects they have found dead.
Lizards:
There are more than 5,000 species of lizards on all continents except Antarctica, making them the most abundant reptilian group of animals. Due to their omnivorous diet, they consume animal and plant matter depending on their environment.
Depending on where they live, different lizard species eat different kinds of insects. There are many different types of insects, including spiders, worms, grasshoppers, ants, flies, cockroaches and crickets. However, they avoid eating some insects, like lightning bugs, because they are toxic to them.
Lizards choose to lie quietly in wait for their target, and cricket grabbing involves hiding within their environment to prevent their target from spotting them. The tongues of these animals are similar to those of frogs, and they use them to catch prey efficiently. Their jaws also help crush the cricket’s exoskeleton, supported by the rows of teeth on the top of the mouth and lower and upper teeth. Before swallowing, they will use their jaws and teeth to munch their meals.
Bats: What Eats Crickets
There are thousands of types of bats, but most consume insects as their primary source of nutrition, including crickets—insectivorous bats like night-flying insects, mosquitoes, moths, and other insects.
Bats use sound to find insects; since crickets make sounds at night, this process is more accessible. Based on estimates, bats can ingest up to 8,000 insects every night, including mosquitoes. After landing on a perch, they dive down and grab the insect with their tails instead of their teeth before eating it.
Generally, a bat will dive when it sees an insect on the ground and surprise it. Rather than using their tails, they will bite and chew it with their razor-sharp teeth. After finishing their meal, they will fly to find their next prey.
Shrews:
Despite their size, shrews are fierce carnivores found worldwide as cricket predators. These animals differ from mice because they have tiny ears, eyes, pointed noses, and strong teeth.
Insect larvae and insects make up a large portion of their diet. These choices include crickets, moths, grasshoppers, wasps, butterflies, beetles, honey bees, and their larvae. In addition to ants, some shrew species consume crickets as well. Since shrews have a high metabolism, they can quickly starve to death if they do not eat after every few hours.
As a result, crickets provide a nutritious food source and are typically consumed frequently.
Frogs: What Eats Crickets
Frogs are more “generalist” predators since they eat nearly anything, especially live insects. In addition to grasshoppers and spiders, they will eat crickets, cricket eggs, and butterflies. They will also prey on aquatic invertebrates.
Frogs eat pond plants and algae when immature but consume meat as they grow. They eat a variety of live prey, including spiders, dragonflies, worms, slugs, snails, termites, and larvae, depending on their size.
Due to their vast availability and incredible nutritional value, crickets are the frog diet’s primary food source. In addition to holding protein and chitin in their tissues, which can aid them in growth, crickets also have different insects and animals in their diets, maintaining their nutritional requirements.
Tortoises and Turtles: What Eats Crickets
Tortoises are reptiles that live on land. They have a shell on their back and can retract their heads and legs when threatened. An omnivore is a creature that consumes both plants and animals. Those who do so will catch and eat crickets.
Tortoises lack teeth, but their pointed beaks can catch crickets. With its powerful jaws, it will hold it fast. Tortoises consume crickets whole or tear them into bite-size pieces with their razor-sharp claws if the cricket is small enough.
Crickets are healthy for these reptiles, usually American box turtles and Asian tortoises. They lack teeth but have sharp edges in their mouths that they use for grabbing insects and holding them. Tortoises and turtles can swallow crickets in their bite-sized pieces or swallow them whole if they are sufficiently small.
Birds:
Many bird species enjoy eating insects, regardless of whether their diet consists of meat, seeds, or fruits. It is common for birds to consume crickets as they are an excellent source of insects when seeking food for their young in the spring or when searching for insects for their nests. Young birds and adults can eat crickets’ crunchy snacks.
Bluebirds and chickadees are most likely to eat crickets. Bluebirds are especially good at controlling grasshopper populations despite their preference for eating crickets. Besides eating sow bugs and ants, they eat snails and snail eggs.
Chickadees are advantageous because they don’t travel as often as other birds and will reside in an area for as long as they can find insects to eat. In winter, they search crevices in trees for hibernating adults and insects to lay eggs, preventing sudden population increases.
Mantis:
A mantis is a predator of crickets and different insects. A Praying Mantis will only feed on freshly caught live insects.
Mantises are slow-moving insects, but their large, spine-covered front legs make them perfect for grabbing prey. Their camouflage helps them to blend in with their surroundings, so they wait patiently for their target to approach. The cricket stalks the insect with slow, furtive movements as soon as it spots it.
Conclusion: What Eats Crickets
There are many predators in the wild that prey on crickets. The animals are also susceptible to a variety of diseases and parasites. It is common for crickets to be infested with mites and worms. Parasitic wasps can sting them because they want to lay eggs inside a cricket’s body.
Without viruses and fungal infections, they may end up on restaurant menus. Science has shown that they are a great alternative form of protein for humans.