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Cricket Nutrition

II. An Unidentified Factor in the Nutrition of Acheta Domesticus¹

Department of Biochemistry, University of Missouri, School of Medicine, Columbia, Missouri

Liver fraction "A," kidney powder, dried Torula yeast and royal jelly, when added in small quantities to a purified diet which was adequate for a variety of other species, have been shown to greatly stimulate the growth rate of crickets, Acheta domesticus. Through this investigation, two growth factors have been identified and evidence for the existence of another factor or factors has been obtained.

The results obtained have shown that the ash of grass and yeast, carnitine, purines and pyrimidines and their derivatives, several sugars, higher levels of B-vitamins and some amino acids, as well as many fractions of yeast were ineffective as growth stimulators. The stimulation obtained with liver fraction "A" was eliminated by increasing the cholesterol content of the purified diet. This indicated that one of the factors was cholesterol or a related sterol.

Cricket growth equivalent to that produced by the yeast and kidney powder was achieved by the addition of high levels of L-arginine to the diet. It was also observed that citrulline, but not ornithine, would stimulate growth indicating the absence of a functioning "urea cycle" in crickets.

Although arginine produced growth equivalent to that produced by the source materials, the quantity required to do so suggests that it is not the only factor present in yeast and kidney powder. The evidence indicates that there is another factor or factors.

² Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri.

Manuscript received 13 December 1960.