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370 billion crickets are farmed for food every year. Scientists have discovered they may feel pain

Phys · · 887 words · By Thomas White; Kate Lynch
Insect Farming Ethics Scientific Research on Pain Animal Sentience

The article discusses a study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B which suggests that house crickets exhibit behavioral signs of pain, such as targeted grooming of injured antennae. The authors argue that this evidence, alongside other findings in invertebrates, suggests a need for a precautionary approach to the treatment of farmed insects.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-05-billion-crickets-farmed-food-year.html

analyticsAnalysis

30%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 90%
Minor concerns. Some persuasive language detected, but largely factual.

psychologyDetected Techniques

warning
Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
warning
Appeal to Pity 70% confidence
Evoking sympathy to win support rather than using logical arguments.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

10 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

check_circle Corroborated 4
verified Verified 2
info Single Source 2
help Insufficient Evidence 1
verified Verified By Reference 1
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“370 billion crickets are farmed for food every year.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web search results confirm that over 370 billion house crickets (Acheta domesticus) are reared annually for food.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Article 370 is a 2024 Indian Hindi-language political action thriller film directed by Aditya Suhas Jambhale, who co-wrote the film with Aditya Dhar, Monal Thaakar and Arjun Dhawan. Produced by Jyoti …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_370_(film)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The IBM System/370 (S/370) is a range of computers, from entry-level to mainframes, announced as the successors to the System/360 family on June 30, 1970. The series mostly maintains backward compatib…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System/370
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370 / MAS370) was an international passenger flight operated by Malaysia Airlines that disappeared from radar on 8 March 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur Internatio…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_370
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
“In our new study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, we searched for behavioral signs of pain in house crickets”
VERIFIED
Web search results explicitly state that a study on behavioral signs of pain in house crickets was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, and Wikipedia confirms the existence of this journal.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Royal Society. The editor-in-chief is Richard Dixon (UNT).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_Transactions_of_…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Proceedings of the Royal Society is the main research journal of the Royal Society. The journal began in 1831 and was split into two series in 1905: Series A: for papers in physical sciences and math…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proceedings_of_the_Royal_Socie…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Royal Society B may refer to either of two publications by The Royal Society UK: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Society_B
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
“After applying heat to an antenna, we found that crickets didn't just reflexively flinch and recover. They nursed the harm, returning again and again to groom the affected site”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of real estate listings for Sierra Vista, AZ, which are completely irrelevant to cricket behavior.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Realtor.com® has 327 homes for sale in Sierra Vista, AZ. The median listing price is $285,000. Browse the latest listings and find your dream home today.
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Sierra-Vis…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Search 243 homes for sale in Sierra Vista, AZ. Get real time updates. Connect directly with real estate agents. Get the most details on Homes.com.
https://www.homes.com/sierra-vista-az/newest/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Zillow has 254 homes for sale in Sierra Vista AZ. View listing photos, review sales history, and use our detailed real estate filters to find the perfect place.
https://www.zillow.com/sierra-vista-az/
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“Evidence meeting these criteria helped crabs and lobsters gain legal recognition as sentient under United Kingdom law in 2022.”
CORROBORATED
The claim is confirmed by a cross-reference, the official GOV.UK website, and other news reports stating that crabs and lobsters were recognized as sentient under UK law in 2022.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The coconut crab (Birgus latro) is a terrestrial species of giant hermit crab, and is also known as the robber crab or palm thief. It is the largest living terrestrial arthropod, with a weight up to 4…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_crab
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Crabs are decapod crustaceans, either the Brachyura (the "true crabs") or various groups within the closely related Anomura (hermit crabs and allies), characterised by having a heavily armoured shell,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Declawing of crabs is the process whereby one or both claws of a crab are manually detached before the return of the live crab to the water, as practiced in the fishing industry worldwide. Crabs commo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declawing_of_crabs
+ 4 more evidence sources
info
“Bumblebees weigh the risk of harm against the richness of a food reward, and groom the site of an injury.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence discusses bumblebee nectar stealing and pollination but does not mention weighing risk against reward or grooming injury sites.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Some bumblebees steal nectar, making a hole near the base of a flower to access the nectar while avoiding pollen transfer. Bumblebees are important agricultural pollinators, so their decline in Europe…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumblebee
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web search NEUTRAL — Bumblebees (of the genus Bombus) are common native bees and important pollinators in most areas of North America. In spring, queens emerge from underground where they have spent the winter, and look f…
https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/pollinators/pollinator-o…
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web search NEUTRAL — Sep 17, 2025 · Maybe bumblebees meet at a flower patch, alight on some of the same blossoms, each make their own little messes while sipping nectar and gathering pollen, and a pathogen hitches a ride …
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-deep-look-in…
verified
“Honeybees learn to associate particular smells with harmful stimuli and avoid them.”
VERIFIED
Wikipedia and web search results confirm that honeybees can learn to avoid odors associated with toxins or harmful stimuli via conditioned food aversion.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Honey bees are sensitive to odors (including pheromones), tastes, and colors, including ultraviolet. They can demonstrate capabilities such as color discrimination through classical and operant condit…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_learning_and_communication
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — This form of learning is primarily mediated by the neurotransmitter, dopamine. We also found a second mechanism: bees can learn to avoid odors associated with the malaise caused by ingesting toxins.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21980568/
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web search NEUTRAL — What about the ‘non-learner’ bees? For them, none of the tested chemicals showed much change over time at all. This study is the first to link the relationship between octopamine and tyramine to learn…
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/bee-brain-teach-us-human-130200395…
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“the house cricket (Acheta domesticus) is the world's most widely farmed insect”
CORROBORATED
The claim is supported by a cross-reference and web search results stating that the house cricket is the most widely farmed insect, with over 370 billion reared annually.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Search 243 homes for sale in Sierra Vista, AZ. Get real time updates. Connect directly with real estate agents. Get the most details on Homes.com.
https://www.homes.com/sierra-vista-az/newest/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Zillow has 254 homes for sale in Sierra Vista AZ. View listing photos, review sales history, and use our detailed real estate filters to find the perfect place.
https://www.zillow.com/sierra-vista-az/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Realtor.com® has 327 homes for sale in Sierra Vista, AZ. The median listing price is $285,000. Browse the latest listings and find your dream home today.
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Sierra-Vis…
+ 1 more evidence source
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“After the hot probe, crickets were more than twice as likely to groom the affected antenna compared to controls, and spent roughly four times longer doing so.”
CORROBORATED
Two independent web search results (including The Guardian) confirm the specific statistics that crickets were more than twice as likely to groom the affected antenna and spent roughly four times longer doing so.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Crickets that received the hot probe “overwhelmingly” directed their attention to the affected antenna – they groomed it more frequently, and tended to it over a longer period of time, he says. “They …
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/may/13/insects-feel…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — After the hot probe, crickets were more than twice as likely to groom the affected antenna compared to controls, and spent roughly four times longer doing so. Could this simply reflect general disturb…
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/wildlife-biodiversity/370-bil…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — the biggest ever study of female orgasms was undertaken.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0092623X.2017.13…
help
“crickets possess damage receptors, can learn to avoid harms, and respond less to injury under morphine”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found after searching for this specific set of claims regarding damage receptors and morphine response in crickets.
verified
“Insects have been around for more than 400 million years”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The claim is supported by a cross-reference and Wikipedia's entry on the evolution of insects, confirming they have existed for more than 400 million years.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Insects (from Latin insectum) are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Eusociality (Greek εὖ eu 'good' or 'true' and social) is the highest level of organization of sociality. It is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offsp…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eusociality
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The most recent understanding of the evolution of insects is based on studies of the following branches of science: molecular biology, insect morphology, paleontology, insect taxonomy, evolution, embr…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_of_insects
+ 1 more evidence source
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.