Insect Breeder Career Profile
- Career Name - Insect Breeder
- Category - Business / Health
- Skills Required - Life skills 40% - Career skills 60%
- Basic School Subjects - Business Studies, Language, Biology
- Minimum Required Education - High School
- Species Worked With - Insects
- Kind of Interaction with Animals - Direct
Do you want to work as an Insect Breeder?
READ: This page helps you to read about the career and the info you need to decide on whether this is indeed the career you want to follow.
RESEARCH: Learn about the skills required and minimum subjects to enter this career, as well as the places where you can study further after school.
PREPARE: If you want to plan and prepare for your career, then join the OZT Community! Members have access to tools while chatting with other students and experts from around the world. Prepare to be amazed!
CAREER MENTOR
UPDATED:
15 July 2023
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What is an insect breeder?
Insect breeders are people who Breed specific kinds of insects for commercial reasons. The most significant reason currently for breeding insects is as an alternative source of food or protein for humans and livestock.
Alternative Names
Also known as:
- Insect Farmer
NB!
Although farming with bees can also fall under Insect Breeder as a career, we have decided to discuss it separately, as there are different reasons for farming with bees. You can read more about being a Bee Farmer here =
Career Categories
The Insect Breeder career can be found in the following career categories:
- Business
- Animal Health
Collecting Insects?
Insect collecting refers to the collection of insects and other arthropods for scientific study or as a hobby
Most costly?
A specimen of the Goliath birdwing butterfly was sold by a Taiwanese dealer for US$28,000 in July 2006
What does an Insect Breeder do?
Groups of animals an Insect Breeder works with
What is the level of Interaction with the Animals?
- Directly - A person works directly with the animals with some form of physical contact at least once every few days
- Indirectly - The career doesn't require direct or physical contact at all.
What does a Insect Breeder focus on?
The primary focus of insect breeders is to breed specific kinds of insects for sale, to either collectors, owners of animals such as reptiles and amphibians as food, conservation organization, or as ingredients in human and livestock food.
With who does an Insect Breeder work?
Besides working with all of the animals, Insect Breeders will need to interact with other people while doing their daily tasks. The people might include fellow staff members or the public.
Fellow staff might include:
- Operational staff, such as
- Human Resources, Finance and Maintenance
What are the daily tasks of Insect Breeder?
- Research on the different insects to ensure that they are kept correctly
- Feed the insects
- Maintain the containers
- Communicate with buyers and potential sellers of new stock
- Market and sell the insects
- Create and add insects to portfolio, whether on a website or database
- Administration and filing
The Work Environment of an Insect Breeder
Where does an Insect Breeder work?
Environment –
Insect breeders mostly work indoors in an office setup and closed area where the insects are houses. Although they work with insects, very few are naturally caught, which means less time spent outdoors.
Places of Employment –
Insect breeders are primarily self employed, working on contracts by selling directly to the public, to pet stores, bug collectors, zoos and museums. They may also have a contract to supply conservationists with species in order to try and recuperate dwindling natural numbers.
What is the average annual salary of an Insect Breeder
On average the income per year is around $45,000. This will differ from country to country.
Can an Insect Breeder be promoted?
Advancement in the field typically depends on work experience. First year practitioners often begin on a part-time basis, fitting their training commitments around other work demands. Promotion to senior levels are available within organization, and generally are the following:
Intern > Junior Breeders > Senior Breeders > Supervisor
What are the difficulties an Insect Breederr faces?
The most difficult part is always to get your business seen by future clients. They may work long hours and over weekends and holidays to finish work within tight deadlines and arrange for packaging and shipping
Future growth and Possibilities
The growth of insect breeding for sale to collectors, hobbyists and places such as zoos and museums is growing slowly, with an average of around 3% annually. But the breeding of insects for human and animal consumption has skyrocketed in the past few years, and is predicted to grow even further into the future as alternative food sources.
Which Skills does an Insect Breeder require?
The skills required for a career as an insect breeder can be divided into two very important groups. The first is the group containing life skills, which are the core skills that are necessary or desirable for full participation in everyday life. The second group is career skills, or the specific skills required to allow a person to enter and operate effectively within a specific career. Some or maybe even all of the life skills can assist in strengthening the career skills, and they might even be the same for specific careers.
Life Skills
- Self-awareness
- Empathy
- Critical thinking
- Creative thinking
- Decision making
- Problem Solving
- Effective communication
- Interpersonal relationship
Career Skills
- Good business knowledge
- Basic customer service skills
- Good health and physical fitness
- Excellent computer literacy
Which Subjects must I have at School to help prepare for this Career?
Business studies will be of tremendous help as a subject in High School, as it will teach you more about the basics of starting and managing a business. Of special importance will be learning about marketing and sales.
Language will help you understand the importance and methods of communicating effectively with future customers and suppliers.
Biology is not compulsory to become a breeder, but it will give you a solid background in understanding and working with animals. Breeding is not an easy career, and knowledge of each species can become critical in their survival, and your profit.
The subjects you choose at school are important as they lay the foundation for further studies at college or university. While still at school, it’s also important to learn more about the animals you will work with, as well as gain some experience.
OZT has a list of various tertiary institutions where you can study further, after school. Each of these institutions also have their own Group page on OZT where you will find the exact subjects they require of you to have passed in school. Keep these requirements in mind, and discuss it with your school, guidance counselor and parents to ensure that you are prepared!
What will I need to Study to become an Insect Breeder?
Minimum Requirements
To become an Insect Breeder doesn’t require formal training, but you should focus on completing short courses, or even a basic college diploma.
Study Focus
Major –
Basic business management, marketing or sales.
Short Courses –
You can focus on courses that cover topics such as inventory control, logistics, sales, import/ export management, basic zoology.
Study Duration
The duration of College and Diplomas can be up to 3 years. Short Courses are usually between a few weeks and a year.
Possible Career Preparation Paths
If this is your dream career that you want to pursue, then it’s important to plan the way forward.
Why is planning important?
To ensure that you understand the requirements for your career, and that you are always prepared for the next step on the road towards your dream. A Preparation Path is like your road map to where you want to be.
Possible Paths:
Possible Combined Career Paths
It is possible to sometimes combine two or more related careers. This normally happens when you study and practice a specific main career, but the knowledge and experience gained also help you to have a paying hobby or secondary income career.
Possible Alternatives (there are a lot more):
Stepping Stone Career
Being an insect breeder can also be used as a stepping stone career. A stepping stone career is one which is used to help you get to another career, normally because the other career is too difficult to reach (sometimes due to things like high fees etc).
You can begin as a breeder after basic short courses and expert guidance (maybe working under a mentor). The money made can then be used to pay for studies towards a promotion or another career, and the experience helps in gaining knowledge. One paying to help get to the other.
Some of the possible paths:
Training and apprenticeship
Even though it is important to study to get into some of the animal careers, most of the skills you will need as an insect breeder will be acquired through practice. This means that you will learn how to perform some of the daily tasks by actually doing it a few times and learning the steps.
In some cases entry level positions require training sessions even before you are allowed to actually perform your job duties. These sessions are offered by the place of employment, after you have successfully applied.
Apprenticeship is also possible where you need to learn skills from a more senior breeder or expert.
Join the Insect Breeders Group in the OZT Community to learn more and even interact with the educational institutions that will help you secure your dream career!
Average level of education of all the people who enter the career
Licenses, Certificate, Registration and Professional Associations
Certain animal careers require some form of legal certification to prove that you can indeed do the work, and work with the necessary equipment.
Although not required by law, certifications may help workers establish their credentials and enhance their skills.
Learn more about requirements by joining the OZT Community.
Professional Associations
None added yet
Where can I study further?
All of the above information will help you understand more about the Career, including the fact that there are different paths to take to reach it. But if you are almost done with High School (Grades 11 or 12), you also need to start thinking about further studies, and WHERE you will study.
See the List of Universities, Colleges and Online Training Academies who offer courses towards breeding.
Do you want to Contribute?
Do you have information that you would like to contribute to this career?
Join the OZT community and chat Group
Join us as a special member and learn more about becoming an insect breeder.
Members of the Platform have special access to:
- Info on the best places where you can study (colleges, universities and online)
- Expertly designed advice to prepare you for the career, and links to places where you can gain valuable experience. For some career experience is necessary, otherwise you wont get the job!
- Top notch info on each of the different species you will work with
- Make friends around the world and share knowledge
- Compete and win points, badges, games, prizes and certificates. Be the best of the best, while you learn and prepare!
If you have decided on being an Insect Breeder, please click on the JOIN GROUP button. Members will be directed to the Group, while non-members will be assisted to register first.
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