CATDOLL : CATDOLL: What are the breeding techniques for Chinese ground beetles?

The earthworm spends about half of its life in the soil. The quality of the soil and the composition of the substances it contains are directly related to its smooth growth and development. The appropriate soil formula is:

Garden soil (or garbage soil, ditch mud, loam, stove base soil) 20% to 30%.

Sawdust (or fermented poultry and livestock manure, wood ash, rice husk, etc.) 70% to 80%.

The soil should be loose, nutritious, and moderately dry and wet (water content 15% to 20%). Simple determination method: Grab a handful of soil with your hand, and it can be kneaded into a ball, and it will fall apart when you let go.

Before the prepared soil is put into the pond, it must be exposed to sunlight, sterilized, and dewormed, and sieved to remove impurities before being placed in the pond.

Reasonable soil thickness should be arranged according to the age of the insects:

For nymphs from the 1st to 4th instar, the soil thickness is 7 to 10 cm;

For nymphs of 5 to 8 years old, the soil thickness is 16 to 20 cm;

For nymphs and adults of 9th to 11th instar, the soil thickness is 20 to 26 cm.

In summer, the soil for breeding should be thinner, and in winter it can be thicker. When feeding breeding insects, the soil for breeding should be thicker, and when feeding commercial insects, the soil layer should be thinner.

1. Living habits

The earthworm is a traditional Chinese medicine, also known as the earthworm, earthworm, and earthworm. Both adults and nymphs like to live in dark, moist, humus-rich, slightly alkaline loose soil. They enter shallow soil during the day and come out at night (or on rainy days) to move around, forage, or mate. Adults have the habit of eating eggs and kill each other when hungry. Around the beginning of winter, the temperature drops and they begin to hibernate, hibernating in the soil 5 cm deep from the ground in a sunny and windproof place to overwinter. They emerge from the soil to forage after the Waking of Insects the following year.

2. Reproduction

Earthworms are oviparous animals. Female earthworms start laying eggs about 7 days after mating, and a complete generation is completed in 1.5 to 2 years. The peak egg-laying period is from June to September each year. Eggs are collected every 15 days (passed through a 6-mesh sieve). When the temperature is 30℃ to 32℃ and the humidity of the breeding soil is 20%, all of them will hatch in about 40 to 60 days. When the nymphs grow to 6 years old, the males are removed according to the ratio of female to male worms of 3:1, and the young and mother earthworms are raised in separate ponds (passed through a 2-mesh sieve).

3. Construction of the breeding pond

The breeding pond is suitable for large-scale breeding of nymphs and adults over 5 years old. The size depends on the number of earthworms to be bred, while insect tanks can be used for hatching eggs and small-scale breeding. In a cool and ventilated place facing south and shaded by trees, dig a pit with a depth of 1 meter, a length of 2 meters, and a width of 1.5 meters. After the bottom of the pit is leveled and compacted, use bricks to build a 1-meter-high ground surface. The inside is smoothed with cement, and the outside is grouted with cement. A lid with a movable door (the inner layer is a 40-mesh iron mesh, plus a wooden cover) is installed on the top of the pool. There are ventilation holes with 40-mesh iron mesh at 15 cm on both ends of the lid. The joints of the pool wall should be sealed, and the bottom of the pool is covered with 20 cm thick breeding soil. Feeding and watering equipment are set up, and the insects can be put in.

4. Feeding and Management

1. Feed: Earthworms are omnivorous animals. Animal feed includes earthworms, crickets, mole crickets and various animal scraps; plant feed includes wheat bran, rice bran, cake meal, flour residue, tofu dregs, corn, broken rice, green vegetable leaves, cabbage leaves, pumpkin flowers, mulberry leaves, melon and fruit peels, etc.

2. Water supply: In summer, several small water basins should be set up in the breeding pond for earthworms to drink water, and water should be sprinkled into the pond frequently. The pond should also be avoided from being dry for a long time during hibernation. When feeding semi-dry and wet feed, the pond should be kept moist in spring and autumn (the humidity of the breeding soil should be 20%).

3. In winter, choose garbage mud, garden soil, ditch mud, stove soil, sandy soil, loam, etc. that are rich in humus, loose and fertile, and mix them with 20% to 30% chicken manure, pig manure, burnt mud ash or plant ash, etc., and expose them to the sun. The depth of the breeding soil in the pond is: 7 cm to 10 cm for 1-4 years old, 16 cm to 20 cm for 5-8 years old, and 20 cm to 26 cm for nymphs and adults above 9 years old.

4. Temperature and humidity The suitable environment temperature for earthworms is 25℃～30℃. They start to move and look for food above 10℃, hibernate in the soil below 10℃, and die at -5℃. Therefore, some straw, chicken feathers and other warm things should be put in the pond in winter, and they should be cleared out in time during the foraging period of the following year. The relative humidity should be 75%～80%.