How should feeding and management be carried out in locust farming?

Construction of a locust farming shed

The farming shed should be built in a well-ventilated, sunny place. The ground of the shed should be about 10 cm higher than the surrounding ground to facilitate drainage. The soil is best if it is sandy loam, which makes it easy to collect locust eggs. On the ground of the farming shed, grow monocotyledonous plants such as wheat or corn, to prepare food for the locusts to eat. The construction area should be determined according to the number of locusts; every 10,000 locusts require about 15 sq m. Use angle iron, wooden sticks and the like to build the shed frame, then according to the size of the shed, use gauze netting as the shed cover, bury the bottom edge underground, and leave a doorway with a zipper on the doorway, to prevent the locusts from escaping and to allow people to enter and leave the shed. The shed height is preferably 1.5-2 m. To keep warm and prevent rain, the outside of the shed can be covered with plastic sheeting. When farming locusts under natural conditions, the construction of the shed must be completed before the end of April.

Feeding and management of locusts

The suitable development temperature for locusts is 25-32°C, the relative humidity is 85%-92%, and the soil moisture content is 15%-18%. Below 14°C or above 40°C, locusts gradually stop feeding and die. When the temperature reaches 28-30°C, locust eggs begin to hatch. First prepare non-toxic soil and sawdust powder and stir them at a ratio of 1:2, with a moisture content of 20%-30%. Spread 3-5 cm of soil in a container and pat it firm, then place the locust eggs on the soil, and cover with about 1 cm of the mixed soil. Finally, cover the container with a layer of film, and check once every half day. After finding small locusts, use a soft-bristled brush to brush them onto the food inside the shed. After 10-15 days, small locusts hatch out.

Newly emerged small locusts like to eat fresh tender wheat seedlings, corn seedlings, weeds and other monocotyledonous plants, but their food intake is very small. Locusts at the 1st-3rd instar should be protected from rain. From emergence to adult, locusts take about 27-35 days. During this period they molt once every 5-7 days, for a total of 5 molts; after the 5th instar, locusts gradually begin to mate and lay eggs, and each locust lays about 70-100 eggs. For feeding and for laying eggs for reproduction, locusts tend to be gregarious and migratory, so after locusts emerge as adults and before egg laying, appropriate disturbance should be given to make them migrate, so as to increase the number and quality of eggs laid. Before freezing, the eggs laid should be covered in the egg-laying area with some wheat bran, weeds and the like to keep warm and retain moisture, to prevent them from being split by freezing. Adult locusts in the growing period, if not kept for breeding, should be sold in time.