Studies that deal with Feeder Crickets

[MintTea]

My project the one year dealt with feeder crickets and which water source would be best for them (Gutload, plain water, water with a sponge in it). This year, I want to do something along the same lines, but I have no idea how I could expand or branch off of that original project. Help

[deleted-2131]

Mint Tea,

I am excited to hear that you are expanding your project from last year! Your project sounds very interesting. What did you find out from your experiments last year? Thinking about those results will help you decide how to expand your project for the current year. Did anything strike you as odd during your experiment? Did your results trigger any questions in your mind? Do you know the reason why your results turned out the way they did? Thinking about these questions will help you to decide the direction you want to take your project this year. Post back with the answers to them, and we'll help you decided what direction your want to take this year.

Good luck!

[MintTea]

Well...I found out that Gutload was the better alternative water source, which meant that at the end of the experiment more crickets were still alive in the container with the Gutload. One thing that I didn't take into account until after I finished the experiment was the conditions of the crickets when I got them from the store. That's when I thought maybe competition in the overcrowded containers took a slight toll on the crickets' health before I put them through the experiment....It could be something that I could look into but I wouldn't know what to invesigate and research.

[deleted-2131]

MintTea,

It sounds like you have some excellent ideas here. Investigating the effects of population density on the crickets would be very interesting, I think. Another line of investigation could deal with why the Gutload worked better than the other water sources. Try doing some research about how the denisty of cricket populations affects them and see if that sparks any questions in your mind. Also think about what precisely it was that made the gutload better than the other water sources and see if this sparks any ideas in your mind. Feel free to bounce ideas around on the Forums; other Experts will chime in soon, too.