Fruitful female fecundity after feeding Gryllodes sigillatus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) royal jelly

Abstract

Abstract 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.