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Abstract Animals in nature seldom use their maximum performance abilities, likely in part due to context-dependent differences in performance motivation. Despite interest in the factors affecting performance expression, the physiological mechanisms underlying variation in performance motivation are poorly understood. We manipulated levels of the biogenic amine octopamine (OA) to test the hypothesis that OA drives motivation to express maximum bite force in male house crickets. We also tested the effect of antenna removal on bite force given prior evidence of potential links among antennaectomy, aggression, and OA. We found that administration of an OA antagonist, epinastine, significantly decreases realized maximum bite force, as does antenna removal. In addition, the performance decrement induced by antennaectomy is abolished by administration of excess OA, and that rescue effect is itself nullified by the simultaneous administration of epinastine. These data show that OA is an important mediator of performance in insects, and thus of performance motivation, and potentially a promising candidate for the short term manipulation of performance.