CATDOLL : CATDOLL: How to keep golden cicada alive (How to keep golden cicada alive)

1. How to plant and manage cicadas?

1. Hatching: The cicada eggs collected from the wild or farms should be hatched in the city. The hatching temperature of cicada eggs is 30~35, so it is necessary to build a special hatching and insulation room (when the temperature is high in June, the insulation room is not needed). Cover the hatching box with a 5~10 cm thick layer of fine sand, and use a spraying equipment to continuously spray water mist around the branches to keep the surrounding air in a high humidity state.

2. Loosen the soil in the orchard. Use a rotary tiller to deep plow the land under the orchard or woods, then wet it with water. After the soil absorbs the water, the ground will become dry and cracked, making it easier for the cicada larvae to crawl into the underground through the cracks and live.

3. After the cicada eggs hatch, you can put branches and fine sand into the breeding place, allowing the cicada larvae to crawl into the ground through the cracks and grow.

4. Open drainage ditches. After the cicada larvae enter the ground, if it is in a relatively humid environment, they are likely to die, so it is necessary to open drainage ditches to drain rainwater in time. In addition, if the site is too dry, it should also be kept wet to prevent the death of the cicada.

5. Build an anti-escape net. You can use bamboo sticks and nylon screen cloth to build a simple sky net to prevent the cicadas from escaping after metamorphosis.

6. Insulation. In winter, a layer of straw should be covered on the land where cicadas are raised. This can not only keep the land warm but also keep it moist, which is conducive to the safe overwintering of cicadas.

2. What is the most effective way to raise cicadas?

1. Breeding base

Cicadas are mainly bred under forests. Their growth needs can be met under various fruit trees and timber trees. Generally, fruit trees over three years old and other trees can be used as breeding places for cicadas. This type of wood contains more juice and is very suitable.

2. Collecting eggs

After collecting the branches with cicada eggs, remove the dry leaves, cut off the two ends, and bundle thirty branches into a bundle. Spread a layer of sand on the bottom of a large washing basin, and put the bundled branches upright in the basin. Keep the temperature at 28-34 degrees Celsius and the humidity at 60%. Spray it when it is dry. Use a sprayer to spray the branches until they are thoroughly wet.

3. Incubate

The larvae will hatch in about fifteen days. During the hatching period, the eggs of the cicada should be checked continuously. If a small number of cicada larvae are found active, the branches and fine sand can be placed in the breeding place and buried with soil.

4. Breeding environment

In the process of breeding cicadas, it is necessary to maintain suitable temperature and humidity, especially in the hot summer season. Ventilation and moisture retention are required to prevent the cicada's shell from drying out and cracking. In winter, incense should be burned in the garden to prevent the cicada from suffering from frost damage.

3. What are the methods for breeding cicadas and what precautions should be taken?

Egg treatment

Good quality cicada eggs are a prerequisite for successful cicada breeding. Farmers can breed on their own if they are breeding on a small scale, or collect wild cicada eggs. However, it should be noted that wild cicada eggs have the disadvantages of inconsistent larvae, mixed varieties, and low yields. In addition, it is best not to use cicada eggs from fruit trees, because the eggs in fruit trees are seriously harmed by pesticides and have a low survival rate. Large-scale breeding must be purchased from regular professional breeding farms. Tie 50-100 branches with cicada eggs into a bundle, place them in a pot or on the ground, and then process them with special methods for later use.

2. Tree species selection

The key to improving the efficiency and yield of cicada breeding is to choose healthy tree species with developed root systems, lush growth and more sap for breeding. For example, poplar, elm, willow, tung or various fruit trees in the orchard are all tree species that cicadas like to eat. In addition, dwarf shrubs such as honeysuckle and green wax are also crops that cicadas like to eat. Cicadas cannot be bred under trees such as pine and bitter lily. Because the rhizomes of pine trees have a special pine scent, cicadas do not like to eat them; cicada larvae also do not like to eat the bitter sap of bitter lily trees. It is best to intercrop some vines such as potatoes and sweet potatoes. Some experts say that root crops need to be planted to meet the feeding requirements of cicadas, but this statement is not true. According to my field's observations over the years, cicadas do not survive by eating root and rhizome plants, but rhizome vines can provide a better shading condition for cicadas.

3. Incubation conditions

The most important condition for hatching cicada eggs is temperature. A suitable temperature is the key to shortening the growth cycle of cicadas and increasing the hatching rate of cicadas. The temperature should generally be controlled at 25-35℃, and the maximum temperature should not exceed 38℃. Too low temperature may cause the cicada to spawn for a longer time, and too high temperature may cause the cicada eggs to die. The general process is to do the treatment of cicada eggs and land in autumn and winter, and hatch and breed cicadas during the Spring Festival. The eggs can be hatched from March to July every year. Heating is mainly done by using a coal stove. Be sure to exhaust the gas in the hatching room to prevent the gas from damaging the cicada eggs. Maintaining appropriate humidity is particularly important to improve the hatching rate of cicadas. During the hatching, use a sprayer to spray water on the cicada eggs every day to keep them moisturized. The spray should be fine and even. Too dry or too wet will cause damage to the hatching of cicadas.

4. Breeding management

Under the condition of suitable temperature and humidity, it only takes about 35 days to hatch the little golden cicada. When about 20% of the golden cicadas have hatched, the golden cicada strips can be planted at the roots of the trees. When planting, dig a trench about 1 meter away from the roots of the trees, with a depth of 30-50 cm and a width of 20 cm. Then plant the golden cicada larvae and eggs in the trench, fill the soil and cover it. It should be sunny and frost-proof. The soil should be soft, fertile and pollution-free. The land should not be too dry, nor should it have too high a water content or water accumulation. At the same time, ensure that the root system of the host plant grows and develops normally, and the young and juicy young plants are covered. In winter, wheat straw, rice straw, corn stalks, etc. should be covered in the planting area to maintain the ground temperature. To ensure the smooth emergence of the insects, tape should be wrapped around the tree trunks before the golden cicadas emerge to prevent the golden cicadas from escaping. Cicadas mainly emerge between 8 and 10 p.m., and spraying a cicada inducer about 6 hours before emergence can concentrate the time at which the cicadas emerge, making it easier to manage and harvest. After harvesting, they can be simply cleaned and processed before being sold as finished products.

4. How to breed cicadas?

1. Selecting and breeding trees

The growth of cicadas is inseparable from trees, so it is necessary to select dwarfing breeding trees, prune high branches in time, plant fruit tree seedlings between trees, and increase the branches for cicadas to lay eggs.

2. Construction of breeding greenhouse

When the cicada is about to emerge from the ground, a breeding greenhouse is built on a plot of land with convenient irrigation and drainage. Cement pillars or bamboo sticks are used to build a fence around the breeding area. Bamboo poles are used to build a frame in the middle and then iron wire is used to secure it. Nylon window screen is covered on the outside.

3. Pest management and epidemic prevention

After the cicadas emerge from the ground, they need to wait until they have molted into adults before entering the greenhouse. You can catch the cicadas that have been unearthed within the previous week and wait for 7 days for them to naturally molt and lay eggs. When breeding, there are about 50% males and 50% females. The cicadas pierce the epidermis of the branches and lay eggs in the wood. Do not walk around or make noise in the greenhouse at this time. Take protective measures after the cicadas emerge from the ground.

5. How to breed cicadas?

1. Breeding

The breeding targets are newly hatched nymphs and eggs that are close to hatching. The branches with eggs collected directly from the wild or from the seed source are concentrated indoors to promote hatching.

Hatching method: In a plastic box 70 cm long, 40 cm wide and 20 cm high, spread 5-10 cm thick fine dry sand on the bottom, place the egg branches in bundles vertically or horizontally on it, and spray mist with a small sprayer to keep the air around the egg branches high in humidity so that excess water droplets are absorbed by the fine sand at the bottom. The hatching of eggs should be checked continuously in the middle. When nymph activity is found, the branches and fine sand can be placed in the breeding place.

Dig regular narrow trenches about 30 to 50 centimeters deep, about 1 meter away from the base of the trunk, under the host plant tree in the breeding place, such as circular, square, triangular, parallel or radial shapes, for the purpose of later digging and harvesting. After "breeding", cover the soil and compact it, and keep records of the time, quantity, "breeding" trench shape and depth.

From the egg stage to the mature nymph (cicada turtle), the cicada needs to grow underground for three winters and summers (actually 2 years): the first year starts in June, the weight of the growth is only about 1 gram, the body and eyes are milky white; the weight grows to about 3 grams in the second year, the body pigment deepens, and the eyes are pink; the nymph (cicada turtle) matures in the third year, weighing 4.5-5 grams, with an average of 210 per kilogram, the body color is brown, and the eyes are dark gray. According to the weight, body color depth and eye color changes, the time and age of the nymph's growth and development can be accurately determined.

2. Harvesting and Processing

The best season for field harvesting is from mid-to-late June (around the summer solstice) to early August (around the beginning of autumn). The most concentrated season is in early July or after the rain. The nymphs (cicada turtles) dig holes in the soft ground with a pair of saw-toothed front feet. After crawling out of the ground, they move on the ground for a short period of time, then climb on tree trunks or trellises to prepare for molting. They emerge as adult cicadas at 4 to 6 in the morning of the next day. You can use a flashlight to catch them on the ground and trunks under trees at night, or catch the young adult cicadas on trees in the early morning.