CATDOLL : CATDOLL: There have always been people going to the countryside to buy cicada shells. It is said to be very expensive. Why do so few people go looking for them?

There have been people going to the countryside to buy cicada monkey shells. It is said to be very expensive, so why are so few people looking for them?

The shell of the cicada monkey, also called cicada molt, is a traditional Chinese medicine with many uses and is very expensive, with prices of several hundred yuan per pound being common. Even many pharmacies have notices posted on their doors saying: We are purchasing cicada molts at high prices for a long time. In rural areas, you can often see people riding motorcycles to purchase cicada molts. Logically speaking, with such a high price and no shortage of buyers, few people would specifically look for cicada monkey shells. Isn't that profitable?

In fact, although cicada shells are expensive, few people go out of their way to look for them. This is actually caused by many reasons, mainly including the following aspects.

Too light: The reason why cicada molts are so expensive is actually closely related to their weight. Cicada molts are a thin layer of skin and are quite light. The weight of a cicada molt is about 0.25 to 0.3 grams. Although the price per catty is not cheap, it is actually quite difficult to collect enough cicada molts of 500 grams. Even if you go out for a long time, it is difficult to find cicada molts of any weight. The effort and reward are very high.

The reward and reward are rarely proportional, which is one of the main reasons why few people go out of their way to look for cicada shells.

The number is decreasing: With the changes in the environment, the number of cicada shells in the wild has also decreased greatly. In fact, the biggest reason is the decrease in the number of cicada monkeys, the changes in the environment, the decrease in trees, and our large-scale capture of cicada monkeys. Cicada monkeys have not yet transformed into cicadas, but they have been caught by us and turned into delicious dishes. The number of cicada shells has become less and less, which is also a very normal phenomenon. Cicada shells, which used to be everywhere on trees, are now very difficult to find.

Not easy to find: There are actually quite a few cicada shells now, but most of them are on high branches, and very few are in low places. The reason is simple. The cicadas in low places have been caught, and only those that climb very high can shed their shells and transform into cicadas, starting their summer chirping. For very high cicada shells, in addition to special tools, it is also a great test of eyesight and physical strength. This also makes it difficult to find cicada shells in Hengzhou wilds, and many people give up when they encounter difficulties.

As for cicada shells, this traditional Chinese medicine whose price has been rising all the way, although the price is attractive and there is no worry about sales, it is difficult to earn real economic value from it due to various reasons. Except for some elderly people in rural areas who will go to the wild in the countryside to look for and collect some cicada shells when they have nothing to do, there are very few young people who go specifically to look for cicada shells, because after all, the income from working or doing other things is much higher than this.

Our neighbor buys Chinese herbal medicines and every year he hangs a sign saying he is buying cicada shells. However, apart from a few fixed elderly farmers who send him a small number of cicada shells, the number of cicada shells he buys in a year is very small and is decreasing every year. This phenomenon will become more obvious in the future.

Because this thing is very precious, and eating it frequently will have a bad effect on the body, few people are willing to throw away such shells, so few people go looking for the Rock Roll.

Because the cicada shell is hard to find. The shell is on the ground, and the color is the same as the ground. So it is very difficult to find it specifically. So few people go looking for it.

Because this kind of shell is really hard to find, and the quantity is relatively limited, and most importantly, it is particularly heavy.

Who has planted golden cicadas? How much is the yield per acre? Is this information credible? Can anyone tell me for sure?

To ensure the nutrition and health of the land, it is impossible to raise enough cicadas at once. We have to consider the ecology, risks and value. It is best to plant cicada seeds in one acre of land and maintain a certain density and distance.

There are 2,000 eggs per square meter, and each egg costs 0.1-0.2 yuan, so the income per square meter is 200-400 yuan. If the breeding does not affect the growth of crops on the ground, only 50 square meters are needed per mu, and the income will be more than 10,000 yuan.

The egg branches of golden cicadas are hatched from the end of February to the end of June in the Gregorian calendar. The hatched egg branches are planted from the beginning of April to the middle of July. It is not good to plant too early or too late. Reasons: (1). According to our many years of breeding practice and repeated experiments, the egg period of golden cicadas is generally about 280 to 300 days. In July, the golden cicada eggs have begun to die in large numbers, and their vitality has decreased. Some of them die before hatching (there are very few poplar branches left), and they are very likely to die during the hatching process. The survival rate is less than 10% of the normal situation. (2). The egg branches of golden cicadas produced in the same year cannot hatch small golden cicadas because they have a dormant period. Therefore, only the egg branches of the previous year can hatch. Don't be fooled by the unscientific promises of some farms that golden cicadas can be hatched at any time. (3). Some farms say that as long as the hatching does not see the small golden cicadas, they can still breed. This is pure nonsense. The consequence of such breeding can only be said that the survival rate is extremely low, less than 1%, and the cycle is as long as 3-5 years. 2. Survival rate? Yield? Yield is related to comprehensive factors. Golden cicadas come out in the evening of July in the solar calendar. We cannot watch the farmers every day to calculate the yield. The egg branches and hatched golden cicadas we provide are the best verification. We are developing for the long term. We are not like other seed supply places. They say that the survival rate is 80%, which is impossible to achieve. They say that the per-acre yield is guaranteed, which is all exaggeration. After years of practice and experiments, we have summarized a new planting method, which has a 10-20% higher survival rate than the ordinary planting method (the survival rate of the ordinary planting method is only about 20%, and ours can reach 30-50%, and some farmers boast of 70%. 0% or 80% is absolutely impossible, which is nearly ten times more than the natural one. That is to say, one branch can produce about 60-100 cicadas, and about 100 cicadas per kilogram. The yield is determined by the number of branches planted (500 branches per mu will produce about 300 kilograms per mu). Don't be fooled by some farms' so-called 70% or 80% survival rate and other unscientific promises. 3. Cycle? The natural growth cycle of cicadas is three to five years, and artificial breeding greatly shortens the cycle, and it can be produced in one and a half to two years. Some farms say that it can be produced in one year, which is impossible, and it will be produced in July of the solar calendar every year, so no matter when it is planted, the cycle is about two years!>

To successfully raise cicadas, you should master the key points of seed source acquisition, host plant selection, breeding site selection, and protective measures configuration:

1. Obtain seed sources. Primary seed sources can be collected naturally in the field. Eggs, nymphs, and adults can all be collected as seed sources. All stages of insects can be collected from July to September; August to September is the best season for collecting nymphs; September is the best time to collect cicada egg branches, and cicada eggs can be collected throughout the year.

To collect eggs, you can choose an ideal place with dense trees and many cicadas. Use fruit branch shears or a long pole with a hook on the top to gently remove the 1-2 year old thin dry branches on the tree that have been killed by cicada eggs. Any branch that is flat and dry on one side with an incomplete surface and has a large number of milky white oblong eggs embedded in the subcutaneous wood is cicada eggs. Cut off the excess egg-free dead shoots on the upper part of the egg-laying nest, and leave 10-15 cm egg-free branches below the egg-laying nest. Bundle about 50 branches into a small bundle and put them in a plastic bag for later use.

The collection of egg-laying branches should be the main way to obtain seed sources.

2. Breeding. The breeding objects are newly hatched nymphs and eggs that are close to hatching.

3. Supply high-quality feed. Choose healthy tree species with well-developed root systems, lush growth, and more juice, such as poplar, elm, willow, tung or various fruit trees in the orchard. In addition, intercrop some root and tuber plants, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, and yams.

4. Provide good environmental conditions. The depth of grasshopper "breeding" should be 30 to 50 cm. It should be sunny and frost-proof. The soil should be soft, fertile and pollution-free. It should not be too dry, nor should it have too much water or water accumulation. It should ensure that the root system of the host plant grows and develops normally and that the young plants are tender, developed and juicy. In winter, wheat straw, rice straw, corn straw, etc. should be covered in the breeding area to maintain the ground temperature.

Build facilities for producing adults and nymphs. In addition to collecting cicada eggs naturally, you can build a gauze greenhouse to provide space for adults to lay eggs. You can use fruit trees in abandoned orchards, and replant fruit tree seedlings. Use cement columns or bamboo sticks to build fences around them, and then pull iron wires in the middle, and cover the outside with nylon window screens. The emerged or collected adults can mate and lay eggs in them, and you can keep the number of adults as needed later, without having to collect seed sources from the wild.