# cricket virus



## dartsami (Oct 30, 2006)

Anyone have info on the issues the big cricket farms have been having here and overseas in the last 6 months? Through the grapevine I've heard there's a virus wiping out entire buildings full of crickets. Extreme measures such as fumigation, gowning, air handling etc. Are being implemented. Almost like some of the biotech labs I work in.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

If I remember this is a virus that was originally cultured in wax worms and has since jumped over to domestic crickets. 
Check out TITAG / Education


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## nathan (Jul 24, 2009)

From what I have heard from distributors, it has wiped out almost all the euorpean farms and alot here in the us. But many are up and running back to full strength. Ive also heard that instead of using domestic house crickets , they are using a carribean species that is not effected by the virus.


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## Tony (Oct 13, 2008)

Ed, 

How serious is the threat of transmission from crickets to fruit flies? I have seen several references in the literature to the ability of the virus to reproduce in Drosophila, is it likely under home conditions or does transmission require intentional exposure as was done in the lab?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Hi Tony,

I haven't dug that far into it.. there are limits on my time. 

Ed


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

well many of us feed crickets to our collections, what kind of danger does this pose to the frogs.


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## Tony (Oct 13, 2008)

Julio said:


> well many of us feed crickets to our collections, what kind of danger does this pose to the frogs.


There is no danger to the frogs.


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## Tony (Oct 13, 2008)

Ed said:


> Hi Tony,
> 
> I haven't dug that far into it.. there are limits on my time.
> 
> Ed


Ok, I just thought it might be something you had to consider at work.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Tony said:


> There is no danger to the frogs.


Other than lacking a food source.. Europe has some advantages over the US with respect to crickets and grasshoppers as they have multiple species in cultivation while in the US we are pretty much restricted to one species.. 

Ed


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Tony said:


> Ok, I just thought it might be something you had to consider at work.


I don't think it is enough of a concern as of yet. 

Ed


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## Tony (Oct 13, 2008)

Ed said:


> Other than lacking a food source.. Europe has some advantages over the US with respect to crickets and grasshoppers as they have multiple species in cultivation while in the US we are pretty much restricted to one species..
> 
> Ed


Is that restriction due to laws preventing the culture of other species, or did our cricket producers just screw up and fail to diversify?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Tony said:


> Is that restriction due to laws preventing the culture of other species, or did our cricket producers just screw up and fail to diversify?


Other species would have to be shown to not be plant pests under the APHIS regulations... The domestic crickets were already well established for use as fish bait before anyone thought about regulating them... (if I remember correctly). 

Ed


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## Michael Shrom (May 20, 2004)

My local cricket breeder was wiped out. His crickets would reach a certain size and all die. He claims that once the building is infected the virus can't be cleaned out even if the crickets are removed. I've heard of pet stores and suppliers using a couple sources for crickets in case their main source disappears.


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## RarePlantBroker (Aug 3, 2008)

The supplier I used to use for crix and superworms filed for bankruptcy after his crickets were wiped out by the virus. Its a real shame, because this place could ship UPS ground and they'd deliver packages the next day....


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

In the UK you can purchase house crickets, field crickets (they appear to be identical to the wild crickets I saw wild in the southern US) and Locusts (they were always my favorite live food when I lived in England). So if the house cricket goes belly up, it's not a big deal - field crickets were more meaty and robust in my experience, and less prone to stench.

The US could quite easily sustain foreign locusts so that's an issue, but it has always surprised me that no one cultures field crickets.



Ed said:


> Other than lacking a food source.. Europe has some advantages over the US with respect to crickets and grasshoppers as they have multiple species in cultivation while in the US we are pretty much restricted to one species..
> 
> Ed





Ed said:


> Other species would have to be shown to not be plant pests under the APHIS regulations... The domestic crickets were already well established for use as fish bait before anyone thought about regulating them... (if I remember correctly).
> 
> Ed


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

I think the field crickets are Gryllus similis, which are considered a pest species by the USDA. I know of a local cricket grower that was able to receive eggs, and was promptly shot down by the USDA when they started breeding them with the intent of shipping nationwide.

This species is already established as an invasive in many southern states.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

There are a number of Gryllus species in the US. If you are not transferring them across state borders, you should be able to culture a local species. If you are intending to ship them across state borders you are going to have problems. It is possible that one could get an exemption. 

Ed


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## eldalote2 (Jun 3, 2009)

This is what I have heard- Virus came over from the same virus in Europe. Crickets get to nearly breeding age/size and then die meaning no eggs. The virus is species specific and is not passed to reptiles or other feeders. I don't believe the virus is air born but can be carried on other livestock and spread that way. As far as I know it is ok to feed virus infected crickets, we have not had any problems with our various animals (turtles, lizards, frogs, arachnids). I don't think we have to worry about our fruit flies but I also don't think the USDA is going to allow any foreign feeder cricket/locust into the country. 

Correct me if I am wrong on any of this information. If anyone has any questions I can find out answers from a reliable source.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

As I understand it, the virus was being cultured in waxworms in Europe for study and made the jump from the wax worms to the cricket cultures and adapted to Acheta domesticus. It then pretty much wiped out the Acheta domesticus cultures in Europe over a number of years. There was a lot of speculation on how long it would take to cross over to the cultures here in the US and now it has.. however as John and others have noted, we have a lot less variation in the available feeders. 

Ed


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