New research shows crickets fed microplastic-contaminated food grew about 25 times larger in seven weeks and shifted their diet preference toward plastic after nine days. As they grew, their mouthparts enlarged, enabling ingestion of larger plastic particles; digestion fragmented microplastics into nanoplastics. Similar contamination and effects have been found in marine snails, earthworms and Antarctic midge larvae, highlighting a far-reaching ecological threat.
Crickets Fed Microplastic-Contaminated Food Grew 25× Larger, Fragmenting Plastics Into Nanoparticles — New Studies Show Widespread Impact
Scientists discovered that crickets that were fed microplastics grew in size by a staggering 25 times over a seven-week period.
Microplastics have infiltrated nearly every environment on Earth and are now showing alarming effects on small animals. New research reveals that crickets fed food contaminated with microplastics grew to roughly 25 times their original size in seven weeks — and in the process, transformed microplastics into even smaller, harder-to-track nanoplastics.
Study Details and Key Findings
A study published in Environmental Science & Technology by researchers at Carleton University and Canada’s National Wildlife Research Centre found that crickets offered both uncontaminated and plastic-laced food initially showed no feeding preference. After about nine days, however, they began to select the plastic-contaminated diet more often and ultimately grew dramatically larger.
The researchers observed that as crickets increased in size, their mouthparts also enlarged, allowing them to consume progressively larger plastic particles. "Once a particle was big enough to be eaten, crickets continued to eat it for the rest of their life," said co-author Marshall Ritche, a PhD candidate at Carleton, in a statement reported with the study.
From Microplastics to Nanoplastics
Worryingly, the study found that crickets mechanically and biologically fragmented ingested microplastics into nanoplastics during digestion. Nanoplastics are smaller, more mobile in ecosystems, harder to detect, and may pose greater biological risks, complicating environmental monitoring and raising new concerns about ecological and food-web impacts.
Evidence Across Species and Regions
Similar negative effects of microplastic ingestion have been documented in other invertebrates, including marine snails and earthworms. Even midges — tiny fly larvae living in some of the planet’s most remote habitats in Antarctica — have been found to ingest plastic. A related study published in Science of the Total Environment, coauthored by University of Kentucky entomologist Jack Devlin, reported that while Antarctic larvae showed no immediate drop in survival or basal metabolism at the highest concentrations tested, plastic ingestion altered their energy balance in measurable ways.
"Then you go there and work with this tiny insect that lives where there are almost no plants or trees, and you still find plastic in its gut," Devlin said. "That really brings home how widespread the problem is."
Implications and Next Steps
These findings raise urgent questions about how microplastics move through food webs, how organisms respond physiologically and behaviorally to plastic-contaminated diets, and what the long-term ecological consequences might be. The conversion of microplastics into nanoplastics in animal guts suggests monitoring efforts must adapt to detect smaller particles and assess their risks. Researchers call for more studies across species, life stages and environmental settings to understand the broader consequences for ecosystem health.
Reporting notes: Primary findings reported in Environmental Science & Technology; supporting Antarctic research in Science of the Total Environment. Research teams include Carleton University, Canada’s National Wildlife Research Centre, and the University of Kentucky.
