A multi‐ingredient athletic supplement disproportionately enhances hind leg musculature, jumping performance, and spontaneous locomotion in crickets ( A cheta domesticus )

Nutrition is a key component of life‐history theory with profound impacts on fitness traits. We examined lifetime impacts of a multi‐ingredient athletic supplement ( MAS ) on physical performance, anatomical morphology, survivorship, and general life‐history features in the house cricket, Acheta domesticus (L.) (Orthoptera: Gryllidae). The MAS was formulated using 13 nutraceutical supplements that are commonly used by human athletes specifically to improve athletic performance. Cricket doses were based on human doses adjusted for body size and metabolic rate. Markers of athletic performance included: jumping distance, spontaneous locomotor activity, and morphology of the hind legs (femurs). Supplemented adult crickets jumped ca. 25% further and expressed elevated spontaneous locomotion relative to controls. The MAS disproportionately increased hind leg femur length and width. Life‐history endpoints included survivorship, juvenile growth rate, maturation age, and mature body size. Supplemented crickets showed faster juvenile growth and earlier maturation, but no change in final adult size. A 20% increase in mean survivorship (extending into older ages) was also documented. Crickets represent an excellent new model for assessing athletic diets and associated performance criteria. Finally, as experimental animals were untrained, we argue that our supplement may represent a novel ‘exercise mimetic’ that impacts both performance and survivorship.