New Study Suggests Crickets May Experience Pain, Raising Ethical Questions for Insect Farming

Researchers applied a heated soldering iron (65 °C) to an antenna of house crickets (Acheta domesticus) and compared responses with an unheated probe and a no-contact control. Crickets given the hot probe groomed the affected antenna four times longer than controls, focusing care on the heated side. Grooming persisted for minutes, resembling behaviour seen in mammals and birds.

The Guardian

Behavioural criteria for pain—directed self-protection, learning from harmful events, and trade-offs—have been applied to crustaceans, leading to UK legal recognition of crabs and lobsters as sentient in 2022. Similar criteria support the New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness, which acknowledges a possibility of conscious experience in invertebrates, especially insects.

The Guardian

The study was led by Professor Thomas White, entomologist at the University of Sydney, and Kate Umbers of Western Sydney University, who also serves as director of Invertebrates Australia. Their collaboration bridges entomology and advocacy for invertebrate welfare.

The Guardian

The experiment involved 80 crickets (40 males, 40 females) tested under conditions. After the hot probe, crickets were twice as likely to groom the targeted antenna and spent four times longer doing so. Globally, 370 billion house crickets are farmed for food, feed, and research, representing a population exposed to such procedures.

The Conversation

If insects possess pain-like states, practices—slaughter by freezing, boiling, or baking and pesticide use—may raise concerns. The authors argue that a precautionary approach should prompt proportionate protections before proof, echoing trends in expanding welfare legislation to include cephalopods and crustaceans.

The Guardian

Sydney researchers describe the observed grooming as “flexible self-protection” that would be recognised as pain in pets. The New York Declaration’s signatories view the findings as supporting broader recognition of invertebrate consciousness. Several jurisdictions are amending welfare statutes to cover invertebrates.

The Guardian

Scientists caution that behavioural indicators cannot confirm subjective experience. White notes that establishing pain in other species remains difficult, and biases may influence interpretation. No neurophysiological measurements of states were reported, leaving a gap between observation and neural correlates.

The Conversation

• “longer, drawn-out, ouchy feeling” — Thomas White, University of Sydney

The Guardian

• “These aren’t just little machines,” — Thomas White, University of Sydney

The Guardian

• “Evolutionarily speaking, insects are a crustacean on land, they share a common ancestor.” — Kate Umbers, Western Sydney University

The Guardian

• “ People underestimate insects “all the time”, says Umbers, who was not involved in the study.” — Kate Umbers, Western Sydney University

The Guardian

• “realistic possibility of conscious experience” — New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness

The Guardian

Research aims to link behavioural pain markers with neural activity in insects. Policy discussions are expected to consider extending welfare frameworks to farmed insects, influencing labeling, handling standards, and pesticide regulations in coming years.

The Guardian