How to farm cicada nymphs? A detailed guide to cicada farming techniques

SummaryEnvironmental conditions: The soil should be loose, fertile and free of pollution, and should not be too dry. Feed supply: sweet potato, potato, Chinese yam, etc. Disease and pest prevention: prevent harm from snakes, hedgehogs, stray cats, sparrows, mantises, toads, etc., and also prevent pollution from flooding, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, etc. Production facilities: build gauze-net greenhouses and fences. Timely harvesting: harvest from mid-to-late June to early August each year.

1. Environmental conditions

1. The breeding depth for cicada nymphs is about 30-50cm, and the site should face the sun, which helps prevent freezing.

2. The soil needs to be loose, fertile and free of pollution, and must not be too dry, nor have excessively high water content or waterlogging, so as to ensure the normal growth and development of the host plant roots, keeping them young, tender and juicy.

3. In winter, some wheat straw, rice straw, corn stalks, etc. can be spread over the breeding area for insulation.

2. Feed supply

You can choose robust tree species with well-developed root systems, vigorous growth and abundant sap, such as elm, poplar, willow, tung tree and various fruit trees in orchards, and at the same time interplant some root and tuber crops, such as sweet potato, potato, Chinese yam, etc.

3. Disease and pest prevention

1. The nymphs after emerging from the soil and the adults after eclosion have many natural enemies, such as snakes, rodents, hedgehogs, stray cats, sparrows, mantises, toads, etc., and microorganisms such as Metarhizium anisopliae, Beauveria bassiana and entomogenous algae fungi also parasitize and harm them.

2. In addition, pollution from flooding, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, etc. also causes relatively great harm to cicada nymphs, so during farming, attention should be paid to taking protective measures.

4. Production facilities

1. For facilities for producing adults and nymphs, in addition to naturally collecting cicada eggs, gauze-net greenhouses can also be built, which helps provide space for adult cicada nymphs to lay eggs; fruit trees in abandoned orchards can also be used, and fruit tree seedlings can be replanted.

2. Then, around the fruit tree seedlings, use concrete pillars or bamboo poles to build a fence, with wire pulled in between, and a layer of nylon window screen can be placed outside; the adults that have eclosed or been collected can mate and lay eggs inside, and afterward the adults can be retained according to their numbers, with no need to collect seed stock from the wild again.

5. Timely harvesting

1. From mid-to-late June each year (around the summer solstice) to early August (around the beginning of autumn) is the best season for harvesting cicada nymphs in the field. Cicada nymphs are more concentrated in early July or after rainy weather. In the moist, soft ground, the nymphs use a pair of saw-toothed front legs to dig out of their holes.

2. Then, after crawling out onto the ground, they move briefly on the surface, then crawl onto tree trunks or greenhouse frames to prepare for molting, and between 4-6 in the morning the next day, they eclose into adult cicada nymphs. During this period, a flashlight can be used for lighting, and then you can search for and catch them at night on the ground under the trees and on the trunks, or catch the tender newly eclosed cicada nymphs on the trees in the early morning.