It is important to note that this process changes the internal make-up of the insects so it is NOT an applied process that quickly “wears off”. Vita-Bug® crickets, superworms, mealworms and waxworms contain nutrients more like those found in wild insects (Finke 2015). Vita-Bugs® feeder insects are grown using a scientifically formulated diet with enhanced nutrient content that enhances the nutrient content of the insect’s tissues. The Solution.Vita-Bugs®Īfter more than 7 years of research and development the Vita-Bug® process has been created.

So again unless the gut-loading diet is proven through published research it is difficult to determine if a particular gut-loading diet delivers the right nutrients in the right form for the insectivore.

Insect Gut Loading -While properly formulated gut-loading diets can enhance the value of feeder insects many commercial gut-loading diets either do not contain sufficient nutrients, they use the wrong forms of some nutrients or they are relatively unpalatable meaning the nutrients don’t get eaten (Finke et al 2005). So delivering a specific amount of nutrients is a challenge when relying on dusting. In a recent study crickets groomed off over 50% of the dust applied to it within 2.5 minutes (Li et al 2009). Insect Dusting – Dusting insects to provide additional nutrients can lead to inconsistent results since factors such as grooming, the time between dusting and feeding, the palatability of the dust and the particle size of the dust itself all effect how much is actually consumed. Vita-Bug® insects are fed a modified diet to increase their nutritional content to be more in line with wild insects. As a result insect diets do not contain the same nutrients that wild insects would naturally consume. Currently commercial insect are primarily raised for rapid growth using the lowest cost ingredients.

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