CATDOLL : CATDOLL: How to catch centipedes

1. How to catch centipedes

Centipede, also known as Tianlong, Baizu, and Centipede, is the dried body of the Giant Scolopendra subspinata of the Scolopendra family. This product is pungent, warm, and poisonous. It has the effects of dispelling wind and calming the nerves, detoxifying and dispersing knots, and dredging meridians and relieving pain. It is a traditional animal product medicinal material in my country. Centipede is mainly produced in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Henan, Guangxi and other provinces and regions. It is currently in the season for catching and processing. The catching method is introduced as follows:

Living habits

Centipedes like to live in hilly areas and sandy areas. They hide in the cracks of bricks and stones, at the foot of the wall, and in dark corners of piles of leaves, weeds, and rotten wood during the day. They come out at night to look for caterpillars, spiders, cockroaches, etc. Generally, when the weather turns cold in October, they burrow into the soil on the sunny slopes of the leeward side, hiding in the soil about 12 cm deep from the ground to hibernate until the next year after the Waking of Insects (early March), and then they move around to look for food as the weather warms up.

Capture method

Centipedes are usually caught in late spring and early summer, especially between the Waking of Insects and the Qingming Festival, which is a good time to catch them. If it is after the Beginning of Summer, most females will hide in secluded places to lay eggs and molt, making them more difficult to catch. In addition, after the Beginning of Summer, there will be more rain, and the captured centipedes will be difficult to dry, and they will easily become infested with insects and rot, and the meat will be thin and of poor quality.

To capture centipedes, you can do it according to their activity characteristics. The methods are as follows: ① Centipedes are carnivorous animals, and they forage for food from 8 pm to 3 am the next day. At this time, you can use a flashlight or a windproof oil lamp to search for centipedes in their hiding places. If you find centipedes, pick them up with bamboo clips or tweezers and put them in the prepared bamboo basket or cloth bag. ② Choose a place where centipedes hide, use a pointed hoe or a nail rake to dig the soil layer, lift up stones and bricks, and catch centipedes using the above methods. ③ Dig a nest to trap. In the habitat where centipedes often move, choose a damp mountain area around the beginning of spring, dig a "cross" shaped long pit, 1 to 2 meters long, 0.5 meters wide, and 15 to 20 cm deep, put chicken feathers, miscellaneous bones, horse manure or bird droppings and some rotten grass in it, cover it with branches, soil or bricks and tiles, and lure centipedes to crawl into the gaps. Check the next morning, and if there are centipedes in the pit, you can catch them.

Centipedes have venom. If you are stung by one accidentally during the capture process, you should squeeze the sting with your hands in time to prevent the venom from spreading to the subcutaneous tissue. Then apply 3% ammonia water or 5% to 10% baking soda water to the sting as soon as possible; or mash fresh mulberry leaves, dandelion leaves or onions and apply them on the sting.

Centipede sting removal

Processing Technology

After catching a live centipede, first hold it with a stick or a long bamboo clip, then pinch it with your thumb and index finger, and let its tail wrap around the four fingers to remove the stinger (see Figure 1 and Figure 2). Take a thin bamboo piece with the same length and width as the centipede, sharpen both ends, insert one end under the centipede's jaw, and the other end into the tail. Use the elasticity of the bamboo piece to straighten the centipede and place it in the sun to dry. If it is rainy, you can use charcoal fire to dry it. After drying, take out the bamboo piece (do not break the head and tail, which will affect the quality), and place the centipedes of similar length with their heads facing one side, and clamp them horizontally at the dorsal and ventral parts with a thin bamboo piece about 1 cm wide, tie them into rows, 50 per row, and seal them in a wooden box for storage.

Quality requirements

The finished centipede should be dry and flat, with a reddish-brown head, a black-green, shiny back with two protruding ridges, a brown-yellow, shrunken abdomen, yellow or reddish-brown feet that bend backwards, the last segment being like a thorn, with cracks or hollowness in the cross section, a slightly fishy smell with a pungent odor, a spicy and slightly salty taste, a complete head and tail, no breakage, no insect bites, and no mildew.

Centipedes are divided into four grades: special grade, each one is more than 16.5cm long; first grade, each one is more than 13cm long; second grade, each one is more than 10cm long; third grade, each one is more than 6.6cm long.

2. Secret recipe for catching centipedes: more than a thousand in one night

The secret recipe for catching more than a thousand centipedes in one night is to choose the peak season from April to June.

Where centipedes are most abundant:

First: The dirtier the place, the more centipedes there are. Because centipedes are mainly carnivorous, and fertile places have the most insects, so the first place to look is garbage dumps, fertile black forest soil, and next to livestock pens.

The second place is dark places. There are many centipedes in sewers, kitchens, bathrooms, sewage pipes, etc.

The third is a wet place, such as a stream, a puddle, or a wetland.

The fourth is the gaps between stones, under stone slabs, bricks, etc., and in piles of rocks, firewood piles, etc. Wild centipedes are very aggressive and must be domesticated when they are raised. It is difficult for ordinary people to succeed. Some people use too much force when catching centipedes, or they fight each other in the utensils, making it difficult to keep them alive. Therefore, it is not recommended to buy wild centipedes caught by others for artificial breeding. It is best for first-time breeders to buy centipedes that have been domesticated by others for more than three years, as the survival rate is higher.

After being bitten by a centipede, a pair of small holes will appear on the skin. You can wash it repeatedly with soapy water or other alkaline water. Do not use iodine tincture or acidic drugs to apply to the wound. If you experience pain, redness, swelling, etc., go to the hospital immediately for treatment. Mash houttuynia and dandelion and apply it to the skin, the effect is very obvious.

3. I just caught a 15 cm long centipede at home. I want to know how to breed it? What does it eat?

Artificial breeding of centipedes Centipedes are also called Tianlong, Baijiao, pine caterpillars, centipedes, millipedes, etc. There are more than 20 varieties such as red head, green head, gold head, etc. It is a precious second-class Chinese medicinal material and is currently in short supply. Centipedes are used as medicine to treat wind poison sores, accumulation of bad blood and other symptoms. They have the effects of fearing wind, calming the nerves, anti-cancer, detoxification, anti-tumor, anticonvulsant, etc., and have high economic and medicinal value. Because they are afraid of heat and like cold, the main breeding area of ​​centipedes is north of the Tropic of Cancer. They have strong adaptability and are easy to breed artificially. Centipedes like to live in hidden places such as branches, stone piles, barren and damp thatched fields and under large stones. They hide during the day and come out at night. After late autumn, they drill into the soil 10 to 13 cm deep from the ground to hibernate, and they will not start to move until the next year after the Waking of Insects. Most of the centipedes artificially bred in my country are green-headed centipedes with few spines. They grow fast and have a high reproductive capacity. One adult can hatch more than 100 young centipedes every year.

1. Methods of artificially raising centipedes

1. Wild breeding method: This method is simple and easy. In winter, dig a small ditch of unlimited length and width in places where centipedes are found, and put garbage, broken bricks, animal residues, bones, intestines, fish bones, chicken, duck and goose feathers, etc. in it. When centipedes smell the fishy smell of chicken feathers, they will gather to live and reproduce, and they can be caught in spring. Generally, the ditch can be opened every 1 to 2 days to catch centipedes. After catching, fresh food is added and covered with fine soil for continued catching. The most suitable season for catching centipedes is around Qingming Festival. In addition, iron rakes can be used to catch centipedes in the piles of rocks, tree roots, weeds and beaches. This method is particularly suitable for first-time centipede breeding, which can solve the problem of seed source and is particularly suitable for those who do not have professional breeding conditions.

2. Indoor fully artificial breeding method: Cement tanks can be used for indoor breeding, and the bottom area of ​​the tank is preferably 50×40 cm. Stack the cement tanks in a "品" shape for 2 to 3 layers, and use glass plates as tank covers. The tanks should be covered with soft fine soil. The thickness varies depending on the season. Generally, it is 10 cm in spring and autumn, 5 cm in summer, and about 20 cm in winter. Broken tiles, small stones, small wood blocks, etc. can be placed on the upper layer; the four corners of the tank can be made into a small triangular trough with glass, or a water container can be used instead to supply the drinking water needed by the centipedes. The stocking density is related to the size of the individual, different growth periods and bait conditions. Generally, each tank can raise 200 1-2 year old juvenile centipedes, or 75 3-year old centipedes, or about 40-50 centipedes over 4 years old, and each tank can have about 4 male adults. For other aspects, refer to the semi-natural state outdoors.

It is carried out by artificial pond culture method.

3. Outdoor natural pool culture method:

(1) The centipede pond should be built in a relatively cool, humid, wind-proof, secluded hillside. The pond should be built with bricks, stones, cement and other materials to form a 80-100 cm high pond wall. The pond wall should be filled with cement. The length and width of the pond should be determined according to the number of centipedes to be raised. The large pond should be divided into "田"-shaped small ponds to facilitate separate breeding. Drainage ditches should be set up around the pond. No cement should be poured on the bottom of the pond. First, a 6 cm thick layer of fine soil should be laid on the bottom, and then fine stones or broken tiles should be laid on top, leaving gaps. Weeds and trees should also be planted in the pond, and a water tray should be placed in the pond to supply clean drinking water, so as to create a natural ecological environment suitable for centipedes to live in. A 15 cm wide "inner eaves" should be set around the pond mouth with glass sheets, which should be at right angles to the pond wall to prevent centipedes from escaping or other harmful animals from invading.

(2) The first batch of centipedes can be collected from the wild or purchased as seedlings. Generally, seedlings should be selected from sexually mature centipedes aged 3 to 5 years. They should be strong and active, with shiny black backs. The ratio of male to female should be 10:1. However, when the female centipedes lay eggs and hatch, all male centipedes should be selected and raised separately. The density of centipedes in the pond should be 350 to 450 per square meter. The humidity in the pond is more suitable at 60 to 70%, and should not exceed 75 to 90%. If the humidity is too high, centipedes are susceptible to infection and damage by pathogens, resulting in difficulty in molting and eating. This not only hinders normal development, but also causes physiological diseases, and even leads to no reproduction or less reproduction. The temperature in the pond should be kept between 26 and 29 degrees Celsius. When the temperature rises to 40 to 42 degrees Celsius in summer, the water in the centipede evaporates quickly, so attention should be paid to cooling down at any time. The general method is to frequently sprinkle water into the pond to cool down and keep it moist. In winter, straw should be thrown into the pond to keep it warm, creating a humid, warm and well-fed environment suitable for the growth of centipedes.

(3) Centipedes are carnivores and like to eat all kinds of insects, such as locusts, crickets, cicadas, grasshoppers, dragonflies, spiders, moths, etc. Feed should be mainly poultry and animal meat, such as loach, eel, earthworm, snail, bat, rodent, gecko, lizard, snake, maggot, termite, earthworm, etc., as well as the leftovers of other animal food, such as chicken blood, miscellaneous bones, intestines, poultry feathers, fish and shrimp, etc. Centipedes sometimes also eat fruits, carrots, watermelon peels and tender grass, so 25-35% of green feed such as water lily and leaf green can be appropriately added. In the evening of summer and autumn, you can also light a lamp to lure insects and moths for centipedes to prey on, and you can appropriately put some insects in the weeds in the pond to breed for centipedes to eat. However, centipedes are also resistant to hunger and will not die of starvation even if they are not fed for more than ten days. However, it should be noted that centipedes will kill each other and bite feed when they are extremely hungry or seriously disturbed. Centipedes can go without food for several days, but they cannot go without water for a day. A water tray should be set up in the breeding pond to provide sufficient drinking water. Centipedes are particularly particular about food, and they will not eat even insects if they are rotten. The amount of food should be increased or decreased according to the season. In spring and summer, centipedes are very active, so more should be put in, while in late autumn and early winter, the amount can be reduced appropriately. Generally, an adult centipede eats about 1 gram each time. Juvenile centipedes can be fed once every 2 to 3 days, and adult centipedes need to be fed once a day. It is best to put bait in the evening. The leftovers from the previous day should be removed first, and larger food should be cut into pieces and placed in a scattered manner.

2. Reproduction of centipedes

Centipedes are oviparous animals. They usually mate in the sunny weather after rain from March to June. The eggs gradually mature in late spring and early summer every year. They start laying eggs in mid-June. The peak period of laying eggs is from June to early and mid-July, and it lasts until early August. Before laying eggs, the mother is bloated with her abdomen close to the ground and moves slowly. The mothers that show signs of laying eggs should be covered one by one with a bottomless can with a diameter of about 10 cm 3 to 4 days in advance, and the can mouth should be covered with fiberboard or glass. This can effectively utilize the breeding area, avoid mutual interference and cannibalism, and help centipedes lay eggs smoothly in a quiet environment. It is also convenient for the young centipedes and the mother centipedes to be raised in separate tanks (or ponds).

Generally, each centipede mother lays 20 to 60 eggs, and the successful egg-laying process takes about 2 to 3 hours. The eggs are stuck together, about the size of peanuts, and oval in shape. The centipede mother's egg-carrying period is about 43 days. During this period, if disturbed or stimulated by other external factors, it is easy to get excited and irritable, and will swallow all the eggs that are hatching, resulting in hatching failure. Therefore, the hatching pool environment should be kept absolutely quiet. It is particularly important to stop feeding the centipede a few days before laying eggs, especially during the 40 to 50 days of the hatching process. Feeding should be strictly prohibited, otherwise the centipede will eat the eggs or embryos together because the food is contaminated on them. The hatching process of the egg mass is relatively slow. After 15 to 16 days, the eggs form a kidney shape and begin to crack in the middle. This stage is the first molt. After 20 days, the second molt becomes a crescent shape and begins to take on the larval form. After 35 to 40 days, the larvae enter the third molt and can crawl up and down in the mother's arms. After another 5 to 7 days, the chitin on the larvae's epidermis gradually thickens and the body color turns yellow-brown. They live under the protection of the mother. After a month, they can leave the mother and live independently and find food on their own.

3. Notes

When breeding centipedes, attention should be paid to the possible viruses that the centipedes themselves may be exposed to. On the other hand, breeders should prevent themselves from being stung and poisoned by centipede stings.

1. Prevent centipedes from diseases: Poultry, mice, skinks, etc. will eat centipedes, especially ants are the main natural enemies of centipedes, so you should often observe whether there are pests inside and outside the centipede farm to prevent these natural enemies from entering the pond to attack the centipedes. To prevent ants from entering the pond, you can use ant-killing chalk to draw a few circles around the pond, or take one part of camphor balls, one part of vegetable oil and five parts of sawdust, mix them together, and then sprinkle this powder on the outer wall of the breeding pond frequently.

Especially when centipedes are molting or laying eggs, they are very weak and can be killed by ants. Once ants enter the pond, the centipedes should be moved quickly and the ants should be scalded to death with boiling water.

Small black spots will appear on the membranes of some joints of centipedes infected with green muscardine, which will then infiltrate and expand slightly, causing the centipedes to lose their appetite, move sluggishly, and finally become emaciated and die. Therefore, if centipedes are found to have this disease, they should be quickly picked out and raised separately, and all the soil in the diseased tank (indoor tank) should be poured out, exposed to the sun for disinfection, replaced with new soil, and healthy centipedes should be placed. A small amount of chloramphenicol tablets should be ground into powder and mixed with bait to feed the sick centipedes, and ventilation conditions should be improved; or, for centipedes raised in outdoor ponds, transfer and change ponds, feed them with medicine to eliminate diseases, and disinfect the original pond soil, and sprinkle lime powder for sterilization and cleaning. Wire worms are parasites in centipedes, mostly caused by feeding large green locusts, so attention should be paid to the selection and matching of feed types. At the same time, the feed used must not be contaminated with pesticides to prevent the centipedes from being poisoned or sick and hindering their reproduction. Since centipedes have the bad habit of eating the small and the weak, and they even kill each other, this mainly happens when they are short of water or food, or when the female centipedes are disturbed during the incubation period. Therefore, in addition to paying attention to feeding and management measures, they should also be raised in separate ponds according to the size of the individuals, and any individuals found to be molting should be separated immediately.

2. Keepers should prevent centipede stings and poisoning: When catching centipedes, keepers should use a small iron shovel or other farm tools to turn over the upper blocks or gravel. When centipedes are found, they should quickly use special iron or bamboo clamps to catch them to prevent stings and poisoning. If stung by centipedes, you can squeeze out the venom first according to the situation, and then use the following methods to treat:

(1) Apply the juice of Rhus chinensis to the wound;

(2) Use yellow straw paper to roll up the salt, light it, and blow the ash onto the affected area from the other end of the paper roll.

(3) Apply ammonia or floral water to the wound;

(4) Apply egg white or rooster saliva to the wound;

(5) Apply the mucus from snails, slugs, or earthworms;

(6) Apply cooling oil;

(7) Mix garlic juice and mulberry juice with white salt and apply on the affected area;

(8) Mash cigarette butts and mix with tea oil and apply on the affected area;

(9) Mash fresh centipedes and mix with tea oil to apply to the affected area;

(10) Apply alkaline water or onion slices to the wound.

4. Capture and Processing of Centipedes

It is best to capture and process centipedes in spring and winter. Before catching, saw the bamboo strips into thin bamboo sticks with a length of 15 to 20 cm and a width of 1.5 cm. Cut the two ends into arrow shapes with a knife for later use. Scald the captured centipedes to death with boiling water, then cut the tail and squeeze out the feces. Then insert the two ends of the bamboo sticks into the head and the lower jaw of the first section of the trunk and the ventral surface of the second section of the tail end of the centipede. Use the elasticity of the bamboo strips to stretch and straighten it. Then put it in the sun to dry or bake it with a slow fire on tiles or other metal plates and put the centipedes on them to dry to become commercial centipedes. During processing, the head and tail should be prevented from breaking, but if the broken limbs fall off accidentally, they can still be collected and sold. For centipedes to be exported, large ones should be selected and dried until 90% dry. Then the bamboo sticks should be removed and wrapped in thick paper in a pack of 100. Ten packs are packed into a box. The box is lined with oil paper and the box skin is sealed with pig blood. For those not exported, do not remove the bamboo sticks. Pack 50 pieces into a pack and then pack them in wooden boxes. During storage, it should be placed in a dry place and some camphor balls or peppercorns should be added in the box to prevent insect infestation.

In addition, raising centipedes together with raising flies will bring greater benefits. Processing centipedes by using infrared treatment can not only produce centipedes on a larger scale, but also improve the quality of commercial centipedes. If you want to know how to distinguish between male and female centipedes, just select the mating centipedes in pairs and raise them separately, then consider the centipedes that lay eggs as females and the centipedes that do not lay eggs as males.

Centipede is commonly known as centipede, also known as Tianlong. It belongs to the phylum Arthropoda, class Myriapoda. It is 8-25 cm long, with a pair of antennae on the head, 21 body segments, and 21 pairs of legs. The first pair forms sickle-shaped venomous palates and has venom glands. Under artificial breeding conditions, it matures in about 6 months. The mature centipede is 11-14 cm long, 5-11 cm wide, and slightly flattened dorsally and ventrally.

1. Medicinal value and breeding prospects of centipedes

According to relevant experts, centipedes contain two active ingredients similar to bee venom and a variety of substances such as tyrosine, leucine, and formic acid. It has the effects of dispelling wind, calming the nerves, anti-cancer, detoxifying and dispersing knots, unblocking meridians and relieving pain, and is one of the important raw materials for Chinese patent medicines such as "detoxifying ointment" and "snake medicine tablets". Modern medical research shows that centipedes can be used as medicine to treat infantile convulsions, crooked mouth and squinting eyes, convulsions, tetanus, white baldness, etc. my country is the origin of centipedes as medicinal materials, and enjoys a high reputation abroad, especially in Southeast Asia and other countries. The local centipede is called "golden head centipede", and the main production areas are Yaohua, Anfu Temple, Baiyang, Gujiadian, Yaojiagang and Gugubei, especially Yaohua. In the past, centipedes were mainly caught in the wild for medicinal purposes, but with the continuous expansion of the application range of centipedes and the continuous reduction of wild resources, the supply of centipedes is very short. Therefore, the prospects for artificial breeding of centipedes are very broad, with low investment, quick results, easy breeding, and high profits. It is a way to prosper the rural economy and increase farmers' income.

2. Feeding and management techniques

1. Construction of breeding pond

Centipedes have strong climbing ability but cannot swim. Based on this characteristic, they can be designed into water-surrounded breeding pools, glass-lined breeding pools, etc.

2. Food and Beverages

Centipedes are typical carnivorous animals. They like all kinds of living insects, such as crickets, locusts, mealworms, dragonflies, cockroaches, flies, bees, and the pupae and eggs of these insects. They also eat spiders, earthworms, snails, geckos, snakes, frogs, birds, mice, etc. When they are hungry, they also eat a small amount of young leaves and buds of plants.

3. Management

When you catch centipedes from the wild for breeding, you can choose healthy and healthy ones. If the density of centipedes is too high, they are disturbed too much, or there is insufficient feed and water, they will kill each other. For piles of tiles and stones, 300 centipedes can be released per square meter based on the bottom surface area.

3. Reproduction Technology

Centipedes lay eggs once a year at normal temperature, but if they are kept at a constant temperature, they will break the routine and lay eggs twice a year. Centipedes have the habit of incubating eggs and raising young. Centipedes reach sexual maturity in 3 years at normal temperature, and can reproduce and lay eggs in 1 year at a constant temperature.

2. Pests and Diseases

The main enemies of centipedes are mice, toads, ants, etc. Centipedes are in a semi-dormant state during the molting and hatching period. If they are taken advantage of by ants, they will be eaten in a few hours. They must also prevent harm from chickens or birds.

3. Capture, Processing and Grade

Artificially bred centipedes can be caught in September and October as needed. After the centipedes are scalded to death in hot water, the intestinal contents are squeezed out from head to tail with your fingers. Take a bamboo stick that is the same length as the centipede's body, sharpen both ends, insert one end into the first internode between the head and the trunk from the ventral side, and insert the other end into the tail to support it. Straighten it, then use thin bamboo sticks to clamp 10 centipedes in a row, straighten it and dry it in the air or dry it over charcoal fire.

The finished product should be dry, with complete ends, shiny and strip-shaped, without any broken pieces, insects or mildew. The length of each strip of the special grade is more than 15 cm, the length of the first grade is more than 12 cm, the length of the second grade is more than 9 cm, and the length of the third grade is more than 6 cm.

IV. Precautions

Although centipede breeding is simple and easy, every summer, with the increase in temperature and humidity, improper management will also affect the normal growth of centipedes.

1. Provide sufficient feed. When the temperature is around 25℃, it is the most suitable stage for centipedes to grow. When the temperature is above 30℃, centipedes are most active and their food intake increases with their activity. The molting period is shortened accordingly, and egg laying, hatching, growth and development are greatly accelerated. At this time, sufficient feed should be provided, mainly meat and high-protein feed. Of course, centipedes' favorite food is insects, flies, earthworms and mealworms.

2. Drinking water should be sufficient. Artificially bred centipedes should have sufficient drinking water in the breeding pond. Otherwise, after being cut off from water for several days, once water is available again, the centipedes will drink excessively and die. When the temperature reaches 35℃, if water supply is not paid attention to, the centipedes will die from dehydration and limb paralysis.

3. Disease prevention. In summer, pathogens multiply in large numbers, especially those caused by mold. The key to prevention is to pay attention to regulating the temperature and preventing humidity. Therefore, while taking good measures to prevent heatstroke and cool down, pay attention to properly control the amount of watering and spray multiple times. In addition, strictly prevent centipedes from eating rotten and moldy food.