The Functions of Copper in the House Cricket and the Relation of Copper to Vitamin E

The addition of copper to an artificial diet improves growth and survival of the house cricket, Acheta domesticus (L.), the optimum concentrations being 2 μg/g for females and 10 μg/g for males. This sex difference in requirements is attributed in part to the accumulation of copper by the larval testis. Adult males showing a loss in pigmentation, the so-called ’albino’ males, are obtained on diets low in copper; the percentage of ’albino’ males is increased by the addition of vitamin E to the diet. The pigmentation effect of vitamin E is explained by movement of copper into the testis, the development of which is stimulated by vitamin E.