Crickets are eaten by a staggering range of animals. Frogs, lizards, birds, bats, spiders, centipedes, ants, praying mantises, and parasitic flies all hunt them, along with plenty of mammals and even other crickets. Few insects occupy as central a position in terrestrial food webs, and the ways predators find, catch, and consume crickets are often as interesting as the predators themselves.
Frogs and Toads
Frogs are among the most recognizable cricket predators. Their tongue is essentially a high-performance adhesive launcher. Research on frog tongue mechanics has shown that a frog’s tongue is extremely soft and viscoelastic, while its saliva behaves as a non-Newtonian fluid that changes viscosity under force. That combination lets the tongue deform around an insect on impact, absorb the shock of the strike so the prey doesn’t bounce off, and generate roughly 50 times more adhesion than synthetic sticky materials like a toy sticky hand.1PubMed Central. Frogs use a viscoelastic tongue and non-Newtonian saliva to catch prey For a cricket, the practical consequence is grim: once a frog’s tongue makes contact, escape is nearly impossible. Many toads, tree frogs, and smaller species rely on crickets as dietary staples, especially in habitats where crickets are abundant on the ground at night.
Lizards and Other Reptiles
Geckos, anoles, bearded dragons, and many other lizards eat crickets readily, which is why crickets are the standard feeder insect in the pet reptile trade. In the wild, small insectivorous lizards locate crickets partly by movement cues and partly by sound. Some diurnal lizard species have been observed orienting toward cricket calls, suggesting they use the same acoustic signal that attracts female crickets to find a meal instead. Beyond lizards, small snakes and juvenile turtles also eat crickets when the opportunity arises, though crickets are less central to their diets than to those of dedicated insectivores.
Birds
A wide variety of birds eat crickets. Bluebirds, sparrows, starlings, wrens, robins, and many other songbirds forage for crickets in grass and leaf litter. Ground-nesting species and those that feed on grassland invertebrates rely especially heavily on insects like crickets during breeding season, when they need protein-rich food for their chicks.2Ibis. What factors determine where invertebrate‐feeding birds forage in dry agricultural grasslands? Raptors generally don’t bother with crickets, but smaller owls and nightjars will pick them off the ground or catch them in flight. The sheer diversity of avian cricket predators means that, in most terrestrial habitats, birds account for a significant portion of cricket mortality.
Bats
Most people associate bats with echolocation, but several species have evolved to hunt crickets by simply listening for their songs. Australian long-eared bats of the genus Nyctophilus prey specifically on calling male field crickets. In flight-cage experiments, both N. major and N. geoffroyi consistently attacked calling males while ignoring silent ones, relying entirely on passive listening rather than echolocation to zero in on their prey.3Journal of Zoology. Risks of calling by the field cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus; potential predation by Australian long‐eared bats This means that a male cricket’s mating call, which is essential for attracting females, simultaneously broadcasts his location to airborne predators. That evolutionary tension, where the same behavior attracts mates and death, has shaped cricket calling behavior in ways discussed later in this article.
Spiders
Spiders are major invertebrate predators of crickets. Wolf spiders in particular have been studied as cricket hunters because the interaction highlights a genuine arms race. Crickets have sensitive cerci, the hair-like appendages at their rear end, that detect tiny air currents generated by an approaching predator. To overcome this, wolf spiders use two different attack strategies. High-speed video of wolf spiders hunting wood crickets revealed that spiders either rushed in at high speed or crept in extremely slowly. Cricket escape success dropped at both extremes, because a very fast spider closes the gap before the cricket can react, while a very slow spider generates air disturbances too faint for the cerci to detect.4Animal Behaviour. Spider’s attack versus cricket’s escape: velocity modes determine success Moderate-speed approaches, which triggered the alarm but left time to flee, were the least successful for the spider.
Centipedes
Large centipedes are aggressive predators that use venom to subdue prey, and crickets are a common target. The giant tropical centipede Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans is selective about how it attacks: when offered crickets in laboratory trials, centipedes strongly preferred to bite the head or thorax rather than the abdomen, and they would actually reposition a cricket in their grip to achieve a head-first bite.5Journal of Insect Physiology. Prey orientation and the role of venom availability in the predatory behaviour of the centipede Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans That preference likely reflects the fact that venom delivered near the central nervous system is more effective at immobilizing the prey quickly. Even smaller centipede species prey on juvenile crickets and cricket nymphs in leaf litter and soil.
Ants and Praying Mantises
Ants are a threat to crickets at virtually every life stage. Native ant species inflict heavy losses on cricket eggs laid in the soil. In field experiments with Gryllus cricket eggs, containers exposed to ant disturbance produced far fewer hatching nymphs, with only about a quarter of eggs surviving compared to roughly two-thirds in ant-free containers.6Journal of Orthoptera Research. Ant predation as a selective agent on overwintering eggs in a field cricket mosaic hybrid zone Interestingly, not all ants treat cricket eggs the same way. Imported fire ants consumed the soft tissues of adult female crickets but actively rejected the eggs, carrying them into the nest and then depositing them on refuse piles.7PubMed Central. Imported Fire Ants Discard Cricket Eggs That selectivity may be tied to chemical defenses in the egg casing, though the precise mechanism is still under investigation.
Praying mantises are classic ambush predators of crickets and other insects. Their forelegs are adapted for a lightning-fast raptorial strike, and studies on the mantis Hierodula majuscula have shown that the striking force of the foreleg grows faster than body weight as the mantis develops, meaning larger mantises are disproportionately powerful strikers relative to their size.8Physiological Entomology. Postembryonic development of the predatory strike mechanics in a praying mantis (Insecta: Mantodea) Adult mantises can easily overpower a full-sized cricket.
The Parasitoid Fly That Hunts by Ear
One of the more remarkable cricket predators is a fly. Female flies of the genus Ormia need to find singing male crickets not for food, but for reproduction: they deposit parasitic larvae on or near a calling male, and those larvae burrow into the cricket and consume it from the inside. To accomplish this, Ormia ochracea has independently evolved a hearing organ tuned to the frequency of cricket song, allowing the fly to locate a singing male with pinpoint accuracy.9PubMed. The evolutionary convergence of hearing in a parasitoid fly and its cricket host The fly performs the same phonotactic task as a female cricket, homing in on the male’s song, but for a very different purpose.
In areas where multiple Gryllus cricket species overlap, the fly shows acoustic preferences among their songs, selecting hosts based on song characteristics.10Animal Behaviour. Host song selection by an acoustically orienting parasitoid fly exploiting a multispecies assemblage of cricket hosts This creates intense selective pressure on male crickets. In some populations, notably the field cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus in Hawaii, males have evolved a mutation that flattens the wing structures responsible for chirping, rendering them silent. These “flatwing” males can no longer attract females by singing, but they avoid the fly entirely, a dramatic evolutionary trade-off.
Hairworms and the Stream Connection
Perhaps the strangest thing that “eats” crickets is a parasitic worm that doesn’t eat them at all in the conventional sense, but orchestrates their death so that something else can. Hairworms (nematomorphs) develop inside crickets and other terrestrial insects, but they must reach water to reproduce. The solution is behavioral manipulation: infected crickets develop a compulsive drive to seek out water and jump in, effectively drowning themselves so the worm can emerge.11PubMed Central. Water-seeking behavior in worm-infected crickets and reversibility of parasitic manipulation
The mechanism behind this “suicide” involves changes in the cricket’s brain. Proteomic analysis of infected crickets found that the hairworm produces molecules from the Wnt signaling family, which can influence central nervous system development, and that infected crickets show altered expression of proteins tied to neurogenesis, circadian rhythm, and neurotransmitter function.12PubMed. ‘Suicide’ of crickets harbouring hairworms: a proteomics investigation The worm is essentially rewiring the cricket’s navigation system. Infected crickets also become strongly attracted to light, which may help guide them toward the reflective surface of water. All infected crickets in one study walked toward a light source, while over half of uninfected crickets never did.13Behavioral Ecology. Water-seeking behavior in worm-infected crickets and reversibility of parasitic manipulation
Once the crickets hit the water, stream fish eat them. And this is not a minor dietary supplement. Research on Japanese streams found that parasitized crickets driven into the water by hairworms provided such a large food subsidy to fish that their removal significantly altered the stream ecosystem.14PubMed. Nematomorph parasites indirectly alter the food web and ecosystem function of streams through behavioural manipulation of their cricket hosts The hairworm, then, is an indirect predator in the truest sense: it doesn’t consume the cricket itself, but it delivers the cricket to predators that do. Remarkably, if a cricket is rescued from the water before a fish gets to it, it can survive for months after the worm exits, since the emergence itself isn’t lethal.11PubMed Central. Water-seeking behavior in worm-infected crickets and reversibility of parasitic manipulation
Fungal Pathogens
Not all cricket killers are animals. The fungus Beauveria bassiana is a widespread insect pathogen that infects crickets through contact with spores on the cuticle. Once inside, the fungus colonizes the insect’s body and kills it within days. In experiments with Mormon crickets, topically applied B. bassiana caused mortality beginning around five days after exposure.15PubMed. Selective protein self-deprivation by Mormon crickets following fungal attack The cricket’s ability to fight off the fungus depends heavily on diet: Mormon crickets fed protein-rich diets had stronger immune responses, including faster encapsulation of foreign bodies and higher survival rates after infection, compared to those on low-protein diets.16PubMed. Protein deficiency lowers resistance of Mormon crickets to the pathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana Beauveria is also commercially produced as a biological pesticide, so it functions both as a natural and a human-deployed cricket killer.
How Crickets Defend Themselves
With so many things trying to eat them, crickets have evolved several defenses. The most basic is their powerful hind-leg jump, which can launch them away from a threat in a fraction of a second. But their behavioral responses to predation pressure are often more nuanced than simple flight.
Male tree crickets, for example, adjust their mating strategy based on perceived predation risk. Under high predation pressure, males reduce or stop calling and instead move toward other calling males, effectively becoming satellites that intercept females attracted to the caller’s song. This shift comes at a cost to mating success but reduces the risk of being located by predators or parasitoid flies.17Functional Ecology. Sex differences in alternative reproductive tactics in response to predation risk in tree crickets
Crickets also practice limb autotomy, voluntarily dropping a leg to escape a predator’s grasp. Field crickets that shed a hind leg could still run, but they were slower, stopped more frequently, covered less total distance, and used more energy doing so compared to intact crickets.18PubMed. Just drop it and run: the effect of limb autotomy on running distance and locomotion energetics of field crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus) It’s a last-resort tactic, essentially trading future mobility for immediate survival. Beyond these active defenses, many cricket species are cryptically colored to blend with soil, leaf litter, or bark, and most are active primarily at night, which limits exposure to visually hunting predators like birds.
When Crickets Eat Each Other
Crickets are themselves omnivores, and under certain conditions they become predators of their own kind. Mormon crickets are famous for forming enormous migratory bands that march across the landscape, and cannibalism is a major force within those swarms. Research on these bands found that the crickets were driven largely by a need for protein and salt, and that other band members were a primary source of both nutrients. Individuals whose movement was experimentally slowed or stopped faced a dramatically higher risk of being consumed by the rest of the group.19PubMed Central. Cannibal crickets on a forced march for protein and salt This creates a grim feedback loop: the band keeps moving partly because stopping means being eaten by the cricket behind you. In captive colonies of house crickets and other farmed species, overcrowding and protein deficiency similarly trigger cannibalism, which is a practical concern for anyone raising feeder crickets at home.
Humans and the Growing Market for Edible Crickets
Humans have eaten crickets for thousands of years, and that practice is expanding. A review of global entomophagy documented over 60 cricket species consumed across 49 countries, with crickets recognized as especially protein-rich, containing roughly 55 to 73 percent protein on a dry-weight basis along with meaningful levels of fat and micronutrients.20PubMed Central. Edible Crickets (Orthoptera) Around the World: Distribution, Nutritional Value, and Other Benefits-A Review Cricket farming requires far less land, water, and feed than conventional livestock, which has driven a surge of interest in crickets as a sustainable protein source in regions where insect-eating was not traditionally common.21PubMed Central. Edible insects, a valuable protein source from ancient to modern times
The most widely farmed species is the house cricket, Acheta domesticus, which is raised in industrial quantities for both human food products (cricket flour, protein bars, whole roasted snacks) and as feeder insects for pets. Cricket powder is increasingly showing up in packaged foods in North America and Europe, marketed for its high protein density and low environmental footprint. Thailand, meanwhile, has an established commercial cricket-farming industry that produces thousands of tons annually for both domestic consumption and export. Whether or not you’d personally eat one, humans have become one of the most systematic and large-scale cricket predators on the planet.
Why Crickets Matter to So Many Food Webs
The sheer number of animals that eat crickets reflects the insect’s ecological position. Crickets are abundant, relatively large-bodied for an insect, active across many habitat types, soft-bodied enough to be digestible by a wide range of predators, and nutritionally rich. Their calling behavior broadcasts their location, which is useful for mates but also for bats, parasitoid flies, and lizards. Their ground-dwelling habits make them accessible to spiders, centipedes, and ants. And their tendency to be active at night puts them in the path of nocturnal hunters like owls and geckos, while their daytime presence in leaf litter and soil exposes them to ground-foraging birds and shrews. Even the hairworm’s manipulation strategy works only because fish are already primed to eat energy-rich terrestrial insects that fall into streams. The cricket’s role as prey is not incidental to how ecosystems function; in many habitats, it is one of the key links connecting plant-based energy to the animals that depend on it.