CATDOLL : CATDOLL: When is the centipede breeding season?

1. When is the breeding season for centipedes?

At normal temperature, centipedes have a hibernation period and an activity period. They usually end hibernation and begin to live and reproduce after Qingming Festival in April of the Gregorian calendar. This time to June of the Gregorian calendar is also the golden period for introducing species for breeding.

It enters hibernation around mid-November of the Gregorian calendar. The length of the hibernation period varies depending on the climate in different places. Centipedes reproduce once a year, starting to lay eggs in late June of the Gregorian calendar, with the most eggs in early July. After laying eggs, it takes about 45 days to hatch before the baby centipedes leave the mother's body and move alone. The body length of the baby centipedes can reach about 5 cm that year.

By around July of the following year, the centipedes will have grown to six to seven centimeters. They can be killed by scalding them with hot water (do not use boiling hot water or it will easily damage the centipedes), then stretched straight with bamboo sticks and dried in the sun or in an oven to achieve commercial specifications of small strips.

Centipedes are terrestrial arthropods, with their bodies made up of many segments, each with legs, so they are multi-legged creatures. They are venomous, predatory terrestrial arthropods. Centipedes are oviparous animals, and usually mate in the clear weather after rain from March to June. The eggs gradually mature in late spring and early summer each year, and they start laying eggs in mid-June. The peak period for laying eggs is from June to early and mid-July, and it lasts until early August.

2. What should you do if a big centipede appears at home?

Six tips to help you drive away centipedes. Centipedes usually live on hillsides and overgrown weeds. The peak activity period for centipedes is from 8 pm to 0 am. To prevent centipedes from invading, it is most important to keep the room dry:

1. Buy pyrethrin (available at pharmacies) and sprinkle some in places where centipedes often appear, and also sprinkle some at the entrance of the sewer;

2. Buy insecticide tablets and fumigate the place; sprinkle realgar wine into the sewer;

3. Remove plants such as creepers outside the window;

4. Sprinkle lime powder at doors, windows and other places where centipedes may crawl in;

5. Fumigating the house with mugwort;

6. There are two drugs that are effective against centipedes, realgar water or diluted solution of DDT. Spray them on the ground and corners of the house, and close the door for at least half a day.

If you find a large centipede at home, you should catch and clean it (pick it up with bamboo clips or tweezers, put it in a bamboo basket or cloth bag, and then scald it to death with boiling water).

Pay attention to improving the surrounding environment and removing dead corners where insects breed. Quicklime or insect repellent can play an effective role in prevention and control. Keeping the room ventilated and dry is also one of the measures that cannot be ignored.

3. How can we process centipedes into traditional Chinese medicine for future use?

Centipede is a commonly used Chinese herbal medicine with the effects of dispelling wind, calming the nerves, attacking poison and dispersing knots. It is mainly used to treat infantile convulsions, tetanus, spasms and convulsions, and to treat carbuncle, swelling, sore, lymph tuberculosis, etc. At present, the application research of centipede in the medical community at home and abroad is different from the traditional Chinese medicine's habitual use of dried centipede whole insects as medicine. Instead, it studies the new technology of extracting centipede venom for medicine. Centipede venom is very scarce in the international pharmaceutical market and is expensive. Rural breeding households in my country often process centipedes into dried centipedes according to traditional methods for sale. The processing of centipede medicinal materials and the method of collecting centipede venom are introduced as follows. [Dried centipede] Saw the bamboo pieces into small pieces of 15 to 20 cm in length, and sharpen the two ends into arrow shapes with a knife for later use. Scald the captured live centipedes to death with boiling water, remove them, cut the tail, squeeze out the feces, and use a bamboo stick with two sharp ends that is slightly longer than the centipede body. First, poke one end into the centipede's head under the palate, and the other end into the centipede's tail. Straighten the centipede, and then place it in the sun to dry. In rainy weather, it can be dried with charcoal fire, but be careful not to burn it. If there is feces or eggs in the centipede's abdomen, you can squeeze it out from head to tail with your hands, then straighten it and dry it. After drying, gently remove the bamboo sticks. Be careful not to break the head and tail during operation to avoid affecting the quality. The finished product of the processed dried centipede requires the insect body to be clean, the body to be straight, the head and feet to be complete, and no mildew or insect infestation. Insect medicinal materials are prone to moisture, mildew, and insect infestation, so they should be stored in a sealed manner and placed in a dry place. They can also be steamed with ignited sulfur to prevent rot and deterioration. For all centipedes to be exported, select the big ones and dry them to 90% dry first, then remove the bamboo pieces, pack them into a package of 100, wrap them with thick paper, and then pack them into boxes with 10 packages, line the boxes with oil paper, and seal the boxes with pig blood. For those not to be exported, do not remove the bamboo pieces, pack them into a package of 50, and then pack them in wooden boxes. During storage, they should be placed in a dry place, and some camphor or pepper should be placed in the box to prevent insects from eating them. [Centipede Wine] 1. Select 3 to 5 dried centipedes, rinse them with cold boiled water to remove dirt, and soak them in 60° rice wine. After about 3 months, centipede wine can be made, which can be used as medicine. 2. Take 3 to 5 live centipedes, scald them to death with hot boiled water, rinse them with light salt water, and soak them in 60° rice wine. After about 3 months, they can be used as medicine. [Extraction of centipede venom] The common method of extracting centipede venom is to kill the centipede, cut off and crush its venom gland, soak the venom with distilled water or saline, and filter to remove impurities after soaking for 3 to 5 days, and keep the venom. This method is simple and easy to extract venom, but the venom is not much, it can only be extracted once, and the venom is not pure enough. The YSD-5 pharmacological and physiological experimental multi-purpose instrument has been promoted for use, using the method of extracting venom by electric stimulation of live centipedes, which is similar to the method of extracting venom by electric stimulation of scorpions. Appendix: Treatment of stings from several poisonous insects In the process of harvesting and processing medicinal poisonous insects, people are often bitten or stung by poisonous insects such as scorpions, bees, spiders, blister beetles, mites, etc. due to careless capture operations, resulting in poisoning. The following treatment methods are introduced. (1) Scorpion stings: After being stung by a scorpion, tie the area above the sting with a small rope, squeeze the area around the wound with your hands to squeeze out or suck out the venom, and wash the wound with cold strong soapy water, detergent water or ammonia water. Then take 2 to 3 live snails and mash them to apply to the wound. Generally, the pain will be relieved after 10 minutes. Or grind half of realgar and half of alum, mix them with water to make a paste and apply it to the wound. Or apply a piece of sycamore bark to the wound, which can also relieve pain. You can also soak a dead scorpion in white wine, take the scorpion wine and apply it to the scorpion sting, which is also effective. Those with serious stings can take Ji Desheng snake medicine tablets orally and inject snake venom toxin injection intramuscularly. If systemic symptoms occur, in addition to taking Ji Desheng snake medicine tablets orally, you should immediately go to a nearby hospital for treatment. (2) Centipede stings: After being stung by a centipede, use the following treatment methods. ① Single prescription: Wash and wet the wound with ammonia water, soda water, strong soapy water or lime water; you can also peel a garlic and mash it into a paste, add a little vinegar, and apply it to the wound. ② Herbal medicine: 30 grams each of fresh mulberry leaves and dandelions, wash and mash them, squeeze out the juice and apply it externally; or use a handful of Houttuynia cordata to mash the juice and rub it on the affected area; or mash sweet potato leaves and apply it to the affected area. ③ Chinese patent medicine: Use 1 tablet of Ji Desheng snake medicine, mash it into a paste and apply it to the wound. (3) Bee sting: First use a clamp to remove the stinger, and apply some strong soapy water, alkaline water or soda water to the wound; or use a single prescription, take a handful of fresh horse teeth, mash the juice and drink it with boiled water, and apply the residue to the wound; or take 30 grams of leek and mash it, or you can use an appropriate amount of cactus and mash it and apply it to the wound. For wasp stings, you can rub the juice with cotton leaves or mash fresh Artemisia annua into a paste and apply it to the affected area. (4) Poisonous spider bites: mash ginger juice and add cooking oil to mix and apply to the affected area; or use a handful of fresh peach leaves, mash them and apply to the affected area. (5) Leech bites that bleed continuously: burn bamboo leaves into ashes, grind them into fine powder and apply to the wound; or use young bamboo leaves to mash them and apply to the wound.