Cricket habitat and retail receptacle
A live insect habitat that also serves as a retail receptacle for point of sale display of the insects. In particular, the invention comprises a cricket habitat and point of sale display receptacle for the sale of live crickets primarily for fishing bait and pet food purposes. The habitat/receptacle includes a housing having side walls with a sight window formed therein for purposes of permitting viewing of the inside of the housing and insect habitat from the outside. A habitat insert is located inside the housing and includes a multiple-sided member that partitions the interior space of the housing into discrete subspaces connected by passages giving the crickets ample room in which to crawl about. The housing and the habitat insert can be made of a moisture absorbent material in order to reduce the moisture content of the cricket environment. An item of cricket food is located in the housing whereby the retail habitat/receptacle has a prolonged shelf life while maintaining healthy live crickets.
1. An insect habitat and point of sale package comprising:
a housing having opaque walls that define an interior habitat space for insects, said housing is a rectangular box formed of a paperboard material including a top wall, a front wall and end walls;
a window in a wall of the housing, said window comprised of an opening cut out of a wall of the housing and a transparent material covering the opening, said window formed in the top wall and front wall;
one end wall being an outer end wall with a tear strip for opening the box;
said tear strip configured to leave an insert tab when torn away;
another end wall adjacent the outer end wall and having a slot positioned for accommodation of the insert tab for the purpose of closing the box once the tear strip has been removed;
a habitat insert located in the habitat space of the housing, said insert comprised as a multisided structure partitioning the habitat space into subspaces with passages between subspaces, with at least one subspace shielded from direct light from said window to allow insects to hide from other insects and from view through the window;
said habitat insert made of a moisture absorbent material; and
an item of insect food located in the habitat space.
2. The insect habitat of claim 1 wherein: said housing is a rectangular box formed of a paperboard material including a top wall, a front wall and end walls, said window formed in the top wall and front wall.
3. The insect habitat of claim 1 wherein: the habitat insert is made of a nutritious material edible by the insects.
4. The insect habitat of claim 1 wherein: the habitat insert is made of a paperboard material.
5. The insect habitat of claim 1 wherein: the food item is partially wrapped.