CATDOLL : CATDOLL: Is there any future in breeding earthworms?

Yes, the cost is low. Earthworms are small medicinal animals belonging to the family Blattodea. Other names include earthworms, earth turtles, dustpan insects, earthworms, earthworms, stinging insects, etc. Modern Chinese medicine calls earthworms, which are cold and slightly toxic. They have the effects of removing blood stasis and stopping bleeding, reducing swelling and relieving pain, unblocking meridians and healing injuries, and connecting tendons and bones. They are important medicines for blood and injury. They are mainly used to treat arthritis, lumbar and leg injuries, and closed cervix. Modern medicine has proven that they also have certain effects on leukemia and cancer. There are more than 200 Chinese patent medicines that can be used with earthworms.

Living habits of earthworms:

The earthworm is an important medicinal insect that lives in dark, humid, loose soil rich in humus. It is afraid of sunlight, hides during the day and is active at night. The optimal growth temperature is 28-30℃. Temperatures below 0℃ or above 38℃ will cause mass death of adults and nymphs. When the temperature drops to 8℃, it will stop being active and enter a dormant period.

The earthworm needs to go through three stages to complete a generation: egg, nymph and adult. It takes about 8 months for male insects to grow wings from nymphs, while female insects are wingless and take about 9-11 months to mature. Male insects die 5-7 days after mating. Female insects can lay eggs one week after mating, and they will lay eggs for the rest of their lives after mating.

Sources of Earth Yuan’s food varieties:

Earthworms are omnivorous insects. They like fresh food, and most like bran and rice bran, followed by cornmeal, broken grains, peanut cakes, soybean meal, fish, meat, various grass and vegetable leaves, fruit peels, chicken, cow dung and other coarse feed. If they are fed with grass alone, their growth will be slow. The complete feed can be 72% wheat bran, 20% cornmeal, 5% soybean cake, and 3% animal feed (cooked feed). When feeding, boil water should be used, and 30%-40% green vegetables or fruits should be added. If they are fed with complete feed for 5-6 months, the individuals can grow into adults.

Earth element structure

The adult earthworm is about 3.4 cm long and 2 cm wide. The body is oval, some earthworms have gray backs, some earthworms have white backs, flat up and down, brown-red chest, small head hidden in the prothorax, with a pair of antennae and a pair of well-developed compound eyes. Chewing mouthparts, with transverse sections on the back, arranged in a shingle-like manner, 3 pairs of legs on the chest, 2 pairs of well-developed wings. The forewings are leathery, and the hindwings are membranous and translucent, folded on the back. It has the ability to fly short distances, and can fly up to 5-6 meters from top to bottom. It has a pair of tail filaments. After mating, the earthworm lays an egg mass that looks like rice. It is 1-1.5 times larger than rice, about one centimeter long, and brown-red in color. There are longitudinal stripes on the surface of the egg mass. Each longitudinal stripe has a larva, arranged in two rows, and one egg mass contains 8-16 larvae.

Earthworm farming - how to control temperature and humidity

The following methods can be used to adjust the temperature and humidity: (1) Heating: When the required temperature cannot be reached in the breeding environment, the indoor temperature can be increased by using a stove, etc., and the local temperature of the pit or pool can be increased. (2) Cooling: If the temperature in the pit or pool exceeds the suitable temperature of the earthworm in summer, water can be sprinkled on the indoor ground, ventilation can be strengthened indoors and in the pit or pool, exhaust fans can be installed, or basins and ice trays can be added to the pit or pool. If the temperature continues to be high and dead insects are found, they should be screened in time to screen out old nymphs or some adults, and used as medicine after treatment to reduce the insect population density in the pit or pool and reduce the amount of food. (3) Humidification: When the humidity in the breeding site or pit or pool is lower than 15%, spraying and ground sprinkling should be used, and items with large evaporation surfaces after absorbing water, such as absorbent soft foam boards, cotton fiber fabrics, soaked clothes and quilts, etc., should be hung in the corners of the pit or pool to dissipate moisture. (4) Dehumidification: When the humidity in the pit or pool exceeds 30%, dehumidification measures should be taken in time, such as opening doors and windows and exhaust fans to enhance ventilation. If the outdoor atmospheric humidity is too high and continues to be high, calcium chloride wooden boxes and quicklime boxes should be placed in the corners of the pit or pool to achieve the purpose of local dehumidification.

Medicinal value

Earthworms are distributed in vast areas of north and south my country; the medicinal name of the Hebei earthworm is the big earthworm, which is distributed in North my country, Northeast China, Northwest China and other regions; the medicinal name of the golden-edged earthworm is the golden-edged earthworm, which is distributed south of the Yellow River in my country, especially in the southeastern coastal provinces and cities.

According to the Compendium of Materia Medica, earthworms are a traditional Chinese medicinal material, a precious Chinese medicine of cooling nature, salty, cold and poisonous. They can remove blood stasis, break up accumulation, dredge meridians and heal injuries. They are effective in treating amenorrhea, abdominal pain caused by blood stasis after childbirth, and injuries caused by falls. In addition, the anticoagulant and anti-hypoxic effects of real earthworms are used in modern clinical medicine to treat coronary heart disease, hypertension, rheumatism, muscle and bone pain, and have high therapeutic effects on leukemia, acute hepatitis B, cerebral infarction, and malignant tumors. Among the Chinese patent medicines, there are more than 200 Chinese patent medicines that are compatible with earthworms, such as Dieda Pills, Zhishang Powder, Qili Powder, Xiaozhong Paste, Baiyao, Ginseng Turtle Beetle, Zhuifeng Pills, Chushangxiao, Chinese Earthworm Capsules, Chinese Earthworm Wine, Tongxinluo Capsules, Naosaitong, Yaotong Tablets, Yaotongning, Dieda Pain Relief Paste, etc. At the same time, with the development of the times, insect food has gradually become popular. Earthworms are high in protein and low in fat, can prevent many diseases, have good edible value, and products such as earthworm tonic wine can be made.

Driven by the consumer market and the breakthrough of varieties, the current market price of medicinal insects is stable at 23-26 yuan per kilogram, and the price of edible insects (frozen) is 10-15 yuan per kilogram. The following four points are proposed for earthworm breeding to promote and improve the economic benefits of breeding.

(I) Breeding facilities: Depending on the conditions, a breeding pool can be built indoors or in a greenhouse. The size of the breeding pool depends on the amount of breeding. The breeding pool is built with bricks into a three-dimensional layered frame, and is sealed with 4.5 cm plastic strips on all sides. The bottom of the pool is treated with cement to prevent escape. Earthworms can also be raised in plastic boxes or plastic basins. The basins and boxes are set up layer by layer for three-dimensional breeding to make full use of indoor space and increase production.

(II) Living habits: Earthworms are omnivorous insects that prefer to live in dark, moist, humus-rich, loose and fertile soil. They mostly come out at night to move around, forage and mate, and are afraid of direct sunlight.

(III) Temperature requirements: Artificially bred earthworms must be bred in a constant temperature, three-dimensional culture. The suitable temperature for activity is 17-38℃, and the optimum temperature is between 23-32℃. At such a temperature, earthworms can grow and lay eggs all year round. Scientific and reasonable breeding takes 7-8 months from larvae to adults, and the shortest time is 6 months. One breeding room can produce two batches of adults each year.

(IV) Rearing technology Regardless of whether the rearing equipment is a pool or a box, the bottom must be covered with loose and fertile rearing soil with a thickness of 5-15 cm. The thickness of the rearing soil depends on the age of the insects. The younger the insects, the thinner the soil layer. The moisture content of the rearing soil should be maintained at about 20%, and the relative temperature should be maintained at about 70%. The time to feed the earthworms should be in the evening, once a day, and the feed should mainly be bran and washed vegetable leaves. Add water appropriately, stir evenly and sprinkle it on the surface of the rearing soil. Make sure that the bran is eaten up and the leafy vegetables are left.

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