Evidence is mounting that insects may feel pain, and a new study adds house crickets to the list.
Researchers at the University of Sydney found that crickets repeatedly groomed their antennae after being touched with a hot probe, a behavior they describe as similar to a human rubbing a burned hand.
The study tested the insects against eight criteria for pain perception, including nociception and flexible self-protection. Crickets now meet five of those criteria.
More than 370 billion crickets are farmed for food each year, raising ethical questions about how they are handled.
The findings were published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.