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


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

    https://theconversation.com/370-billion-crickets-are-farmed-for-food-every-year-scientists-have-discovered-they-may-feel-pain-279855

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    30 Comments

    1. ScoffersGonnaScoff on

      I dove into this more than I should’ve.

      From other sources where this topic was studied in depth. Pain receptors were not strictly necessary for insects to evolve, but they were highly advantageous for survival. They allow insects to instantly detect and reflexively flee from dangerous, life-threatening environments, such as extreme heat, toxic chemicals, or physical attacks.

      [1](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0003347216300513) overview from science direct

      [2](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8996152/) NIH study

      Is it pain if it doesn’t hurt? – [Cambridge](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/canadian-entomologist/article/is-it-pain-if-it-does-not-hurt-on-the-unlikelihood-of-insect-pain/9A60617352A45B15E25307F85FF2E8F2) study. Where they argued that insects don’t feel pain, that it’s reflexive.

      The 2019 Cambridge paper argues that insects lack the neural complexity to feel subjective pain, relying instead on automated, reflex-driven nociception.
      **Conversely, this 2026 study suggests crickets exhibit flexible self-protection, such as prolonged nursing of injured antennae, which implies a sustained internal state of distress – pain.**

      I hate the clickbait PETA title. There is a food chain. I’m all for alternative protein sources.

      Pain, even in insects seems like an obvious thing. If it’s reflexive, there would likely be no lasting memory.

    2. RiseStock on

      The fact that life exists in this universe is the real cruelty. Why wouldn’t any organism feel something like pain?

    3. Optimoprimo on

      Why are these two things being related? Are there many people who turned to cricket protein on the basis that they assumed crickets don’t feel pain?

      I doubt it.

    4. NatashOverWorld on

      So? Animals definitely feel pain and frustration, most of us still eat them.

    11. _x_oOo_x_ on

      You don’t need scientist for this, every kid who played with crickets knows they feel pain. They also like being pet on the back (GENTLY)

    12. Ikillwhatieat on

      Yeah? Did people think they couldn’t? Pretty much everything I eat that isn’t a mineral could probably feel pain…. Still not a breathairian

    14. leaky-owl-syndrome on

      anyone else remember the initial PSAs about lobsters being able to feel pain? those got the folks I know to stop boiling them alive.

      if studies like this get people to favor more humane living conditions and a swift death, I’m for it.

    17. chishiki on

      Wait’ll you hear about cows.

      Did you know they have nervous systems?

      Craaaaazy!!!

    18. Brilhasti on

      Why isn’t pain the default assumption? They used to think babies didn’t feel pain.

    19. CaptainONaps on

      This message brought to you by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

    20. you-create-energy on

      Cows, chickens, and pigs would like a word . 

      Most people couldn’t care less.

    26. GrooveDigger47 on

      why did scientist ever believe certain animals didnt feel pain? are they stupid?

      also. so what that they can feel pain?

    29. ventodivino on

      The consumption of crickets doesn’t come down to whether they feel pain. It’s how renewable the resource is and how cheap it is to produce each gram of protein.

    30. Living-By-The-River on

      We clear cut entire forests and now we’re supposed to care about insect pain?