CATDOLL : CATDOLL: What are the common diseases of mealworms? How to prevent and control them?

What are the common diseases of mealworms? How to prevent and control them?

Main diseases:

Dry blight

Prevention and treatment: In the hot summer, the feeding box should be placed in a cool and ventilated place, or the doors and windows should be opened for ventilation, various vitamins and green fodder should be supplemented in time, and water should be sprinkled on the ground to cool down to prevent the occurrence of this disease. When using a coal stove for heating in winter, the air humidity in the feeding room should be measured frequently with a thermometer and humidity meter. Once it is lower than 55%, water should be sprinkled on the ground to increase humidity, or the moisture content of the feed should be increased, or more green fodder should be given to prevent the occurrence of this disease.

Rot (soft rot)

Prevention and control: If this condition is found, you should immediately reduce or stop feeding green vegetable feed, clean up the excrement of pests and diseases in time, open doors and windows for ventilation and dehumidification, and pick out the pests and diseases that have become soft and black in time. If it is cloudy and rainy for a long time and the indoor humidity is high and the temperature is low, you can burn a coal stove to heat up and drive away moisture. Drug prevention and control measures: You can use 0.25 grams of chloramphenicol or oxytetracycline mixed with bean flour or corn flour 250 grams/box for feeding, and then change to wheat bran mixed with green feed for feeding after the situation improves.

Blackhead

Prevention: This disease is man-made and can be avoided by improving work responsibility or mastering breeding techniques.

Mite infestation

The main mites that harm mealworms are flour mites, also known as "bran mites", "white mites" and "lice". Prevention and control: 1) Select healthy insects: When selecting insect species, select individuals with strong activity and no disease. 2) Prevent diseases from entering the body through the mouth: For mealworm bait, there should be no foreign insects or mildew. It should be stored in a sealed container during the rainy season. Rice bran, wheat bran, local grain flour and coarse cornmeal should be exposed to the sun for disinfection before feeding. 3) Site disinfection: The breeding site and equipment should be sprayed with fungicides and miticides regularly. 4) Trapping and killing mites

In summer, with high temperature and high humidity, you must pay attention to ventilation~~` can effectively reduce the occurrence of mites

If you have any questions about feed, please post in the "Houma Mealworm Sanhe Bar" and someone may be able to answer them.

Dry rot, black rot, prevention methods are too lazy to write

How to raise adult mealworms?

The main points of mealworm breeding are as follows:

1. Trends. Both larvae and adults prefer darkness. Adults lurk in dark corners or under leaves, weeds and other debris; larvae lurk 1-3 cm below the surface of grain and flour. Both adults and larvae eat eggs and pupae. If adults, larvae, pupae and eggs are placed in a breeding box, when they reproduce to a certain density, they will eat eggs and pupae, so you must pay attention.

2. Feed. Rice bran, wheat bran, local grains, various cheap green vegetables, fruit peels, fruit cores, etc. can be used as feed for mealworms. The general mixed feed formula is: 80% wheat bran, 10% yellow corn flour, and 10% peanut cake flour.

3. Temperature and humidity. 26-32℃ is the suitable temperature range. Growth and development are fastest at 35℃, but they are prone to disease at this temperature for a long time. The above temperature refers to the internal temperature of the group. For larvae above the 4th instar, when the temperature is above 26℃ and the feed humidity reaches about 15%, the temperature of the group will be more than 10℃ higher than the surrounding environment. Cooling measures should be taken. The ideal feed moisture content is 15% and the air humidity is 70%.

4. Facilities. Before the adult insects turn dark brown, move them to the adult egg-laying box. The egg-laying box is a wooden box with a length of 60 cm, a width of 40 cm, and a height of 13 cm. A wire mesh with a mesh size of 2-3 mm is nailed to the bottom of the wooden box. Tinplate or glass is inlaid on the four sides of the box to prevent the insects from escaping. Before releasing the insects, first place a wooden board under the box, place a piece of paper on the board, sprinkle about 1 cm thick mixed feed, and then place a layer of dry and fresh mulberry leaves or bean leaves.

5. Breeding. The incubation period of insect eggs is 7-10 days, so the eggs should be screened once every 7 days at the right temperature. When screening eggs, screen out the feed and other debris in the box, and then move the egg paper to the incubator for incubation. The incubator has the same specifications as the adult egg-laying box, but the bottom of the box is a wooden board. One incubator can incubate eggs screened from 2-3 egg boxes, stacked in layers, and separated by wooden strips. In the dry season, a layer of vegetable leaves should be covered on the eggs. After 10 days, all the egg paper should be pulled out. Generally, no feed is added before the 3rd instar, but vegetable leaves should be added frequently.

6. Disease prevention

1. Mite damage. It is prone to occur from July to September. Prevention and control: Feed should be stored in a sealed manner, and rice bran, wheat bran, local grains, coarse corn, etc. should be disinfected before feeding; remove insect feces and leftovers in time, and keep the breeding box clean and dry.

2. Dryness disease. It is easy to occur when the temperature is high, the air is dry, and there is too little green fodder in the feed. The feed box should be placed in a cooler and ventilated place, various vitamins and green fodder should be added in time, and water should be sprinkled on the ground to cool it down.

3. Soft rot. This disease often occurs during the rainy season. The insects move slowly, have a decreased appetite, and produce fewer offspring. In severe cases, the insects turn black, soft, and rot and die. When this disease is found, the amount of green vegetables fed should be reduced immediately, the insect feces should be cleaned up, windows should be opened for ventilation and moisture should be dispersed, the temperature should be adjusted, and the soft and black insects should be removed in time. 0.25 grams of chloramphenicol or oxytetracycline mixed with bean flour or corn flour 250 grams per box should be fed to the pigs. When the situation improves, the pigs can be fed with bran mixed with green feed.

Notes on mealworm breeding:

Rearing container

There are two ways to raise this insect: large-scale factory breeding and small-scale breeding. For use as bait, it only needs to be raised on a small scale at home. The container for home breeding can be cardboard boxes, wooden boxes, enamel basins, plastic boxes, and can be placed on the balcony or other cool places. However, it is most suitable to use a small wooden box. The size of the small wooden box is 20 cm long, 12 cm wide, and 6 cm high.

Rearing environment

The most suitable temperature for the growth and reproduction of this insect is 20 degrees Celsius to 30 degrees Celsius, and the most suitable relative humidity is 65%-70%.

feed

The growth of breadworms goes through three stages: small larvae, medium larvae, and large larvae. The amount of food should be gradually increased according to different stages. During the larval stage, they should be carefully raised, with cornmeal and bran as the main feed, supplemented by vegetable leaf scraps, and fed once in the morning and evening every day. Fresh feed should be replaced every week, and rice bran, bean cake powder, corn flour, green vegetable leaves or carrot scraps should be added in time, and appropriate amount of fish meal can also be added.

Feeding tips

The feces should be cleaned up once a week. When some mature larvae gradually turn into pupae, they should be picked out in time to prevent the larvae from eating the young ones. During the entire breeding process, large larvae should be prevented from crawling out and escaping. Two boxes should be equipped for breeding, and adults and larvae should be raised separately.

Taboo

No smoking is allowed in the breeding room; strictly prevent the irritating smell of pesticides and chemicals in the breeding room; prevent invasion by rats, cats, dogs, ants, mantises, etc.

Timely use

During the growth period, the larvae of this insect need to shed their skin more than ten times in succession, growing larger each time. When the larvae grow to 20 mm long, they can be taken out for fishing.