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The fi eld cricket, Scapsipedus icipe Hugel and Tanga (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) is edible and could be used to reduce malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa. As the demand for cricket products is increasing, there is a need to fi nd cost-effective ways of rearing this cricket using locally available and affordable sources of food. This study evaluated the feeding preferences of the fi eld cricket S. icipe for 11 species of dayfl owers (Commelina spp.; Commelinaceae), using no-choice and multiple-choice experiments in controlled environments. Leaf feeding rates and the nutrient content and phytochemicals of the plants were determined. The ANOVA results indicate signifi cantly higher feeding rates when offered Commelina petersii and C. forskaolii, than Commelina sp. and C. purpurea in no-choice experiments. Multiple-choice experiments ranked C. petersii as the most preferred species followed by C. forskaolii and the two reference species, C. benghalensis var. benghalensis (non-hybrid variant) and C. benghalensis (hybrid variant). The Spearman correlation and PCA revealed positive signifi cant associations between leaf feeding and Ca and NDF content of leaves and a negative signifi cant association between Ca and NDF. A high Ca/low NDF content was recorded for C. petersii and a low Ca/high NDF content for C. purpurea. The beta regression analysis and a biplot identifi ed six phytochemical constituents infl uencing leaf feeding: phenols, alkaloids, tannins, glycosides, saponins and anthraquinones. Phenols stimulate feeding by S. icipe on C. petersii and C. forskaolii, whereas the tannins and alkaloids in Commelina sp. and C. purpurea, acted as deterrents. Nutrient content and phytochemicals are two important factors determining the suitability of species of Commelina for the fi eld cricket S. icipe. Based on the results of this study, the leaves of C. petersii are highly recommended as a source of food for the mass rearing of this fi eld cricket (S. icipe) and boosting entomophagy in Sub-Saharan Africa. * Corresponding author; e-mail: [email protected] INTRODUCTION Entomophagy is growing in popularity globally as a novel source of food and feed with a great potential for contributing to food security (Van Huis et al., 2013). The main reason for consuming insects is to supplement the source of animal and plants-based proteins, which is expected to increase due to the growth in world population that is projected to reach 9 billion by 2050 (van Huis & Oonincx, 2017). As the population increases, natural resources (e.g., land, water) used for protein production are being degraded and become insuffi cient for supporting the increasing population. In order to fulfi l the nutritional needs of this growing population, the possibilities of using edible insects as a potential source of protein for present and future generations has been explored (Van Huis et al., 2013; Tao & Li, 2018). Edible insects have advantages over alternative sources of protein, such as beef, in their high nutritional content, high feed conversion effi ciencies Eur. J. Entomol. 120: 115–127, 2023 doi: 10.14411/eje.2023.014