Artificial hatching methods for semi-farmed golden cicadas

Everyone is probably fairly familiar with cicadas. In summer, you can often hear cicadas chirping in the trees, especially around hot and humid midday when you are just trying to take a nap at home, only to hear that annoying cicada noise outside the window. Actually, cicadas are not only annoying; their nutritional value is also very rich.

Methods for artificial hatching of semi-farmed golden cicadas

1. Collecting eggs. Egg collection is done after golden cicadas lay eggs in autumn, generally around the seventh month of the lunar calendar. The golden cicada uses the small spike at its tail to pierce into one-year-old tender branches and lays its eggs inside the branches, mostly on juicy branches such as fruit trees. After egg laying, the branches usually wither, so most branches that are green at the lower end and withered at the tips contain cicada eggs.

2. Post-collection handling. After collecting the branches with cicada eggs, remove the dry leaves, cut off both ends, tie 30 branches into a bundle, spread a layer of sand on the bottom of a large laundry basin, place the bundled branches upright in the basin, keep the temperature at 28——34 degrees, and keep the humidity moist, that is, spray whenever dry, using a sprayer aimed at the branches and spraying until soaked through.

3. Hatching. After about fifteen days, larvae will hatch. At this time, some larvae can be seen crawling up and down on the branches. When about 20% of the larvae have hatched, they must be buried. Choose an area with many fine, soft hair roots for the burial pit so the larvae can absorb nutrients from the roots. It is best to choose a plot where honeysuckle is planted.

4. Sowing. Scatter the hatched golden cicada larvae around the trunks of the trees.

5. Harvesting. If there are trees, usually wrap a ring of transparent tape at one meter to keep the cicadas from climbing high and emerging. From the day the cicadas are sown, 15——18 months later they become adults.

Cicada eggs are mainly collected from white wax branches. Cicada larvae feed on the sap of plant roots, so when burying them it is best to choose an area with many roots. Each branch contains 100——400 cicada eggs, so 2000 branches per mu is appropriate to ensure the survival rate. Using this method to raise golden cicadas shortens the original growth period of 3——15 years to 18 months, raises the hatching period from the original one year and several months to about 35 days, and increases the survival rate from the original 6% to about 30%——60%. Therefore, it is especially suitable for farming in rural areas.

Obtaining seed stock for golden cicadas  

1. Collecting eggs. Egg collection is done after golden cicadas lay eggs in autumn, generally around the seventh month of the lunar calendar. The golden cicada uses the small spike at its tail to pierce into one-year-old tender branches and lays its eggs inside the branches, mostly on juicy branches such as fruit trees. After egg laying, the branches usually wither, so most branches that are green at the lower end and withered at the tips contain cicada eggs. For egg collection, you can choose an ideal place with dense trees and many cicadas, use fruit branch shears or a long pole with a hook at the top, cut down the withered branches with golden cicada eggs from the trees, tie 50-100 of them into a small bundle, and put them in a plastic bag for later use.  

In addition to collecting cicada eggs naturally, you can build a gauze-net shed to provide space for adult cicadas to lay eggs. You can use fruit trees in abandoned orchards, replant fruit tree seedlings, set up a fence around them with concrete posts or bamboo poles, run iron wire in between, and cover the outside with nylon window screen. Put captured adults inside to mate and lay eggs. Later, you can retain as many adults as needed, and there is no need to collect seed stock from the wild again.  

2. Post-collection handling. After collecting the branches with cicada eggs, remove the dry leaves, cut off both ends, tie 30 branches into a bundle, spread a layer of sand on the bottom of a large laundry basin, place the bundled branches upright in the basin, keep the temperature at 28-34%, and keep the humidity moist, that is, spray whenever dry, using a sprayer aimed at the branches and spraying until soaked through.

Living habits of golden cicadas  

Cicadas belong to the class Insecta, order Homoptera, family Cicadidae. After hatching from eggs into cicada ants and entering the soil, they live underground for at least 4 years, and some even take more than ten years before they can emerge from the soil and become cicada nymphs. When emerging, they use their serrated forelegs to dig out of the ground from a depth of more than 30 cm, climb up tree trunks or other climbable objects, and, relying on air drying and their own ability, emerge from the splitting line from the top of the head to the center of the back, becoming adult cicadas. They then survive by sucking tree sap for more than 70 days, after which they age and die. Adult cicadas and larvae are selective when sucking tree sap, mainly preferring poplar, paulownia, elm, and fruit trees.  

Cicadas live in trees for only about 3 months, so they need to mate and lay eggs as soon as possible. One male cicada mates with 5-8 female cicadas and then completes its mission. Each female cicada can lay 800-1000 eggs. They often choose tender branches 4-5 cm thick, first pierce the bark with the ovipositor, insert the ovipositor into the xylem of the tender branch, forming claw-like egg holes, then lay eggs inside, arranged in single or double rows or in a “Y” shape, then fly to another branch to lay eggs until all eggs are laid, thus completing their mission.  

The eggs laid nourish inside the branches for 30-35 days. At this time the branches where eggs were laid wither, and the eggs also hatch into cicada ants, fall under the tree, drill into the soil, suck the sap of tree roots, and begin underground life. Only after 4 years can they break through the soil and live above ground. This repeats in cycles, so cicada nymphs emerge every year. According to nutrition experts, (www.nczfj.com) cicada nymphs contain protein, a variety of essential amino acids, fat, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, zinc and other nutrients, and eating them can improve human immunity.

Artificial farming techniques for golden cicadas  

From mid-to-late July to the end of October each year is the season when cicadas lay eggs most vigorously, especially from mid-to-late July to the end of September. At this time, cut the branches on which cicadas have laid eggs, tie them into small bundles, and stand them upright in a container filled with soil to keep the branches moist. Then, according to the hatching condition of the eggs, every day under each tree at a distance of 30 cm from the root, dig a pit 40 cm deep and 30 cm long, bury 1-2 egg-laying branches, sprinkle water to moisten when the soil is dry, and then fill and level the soil. Try to finish burying by around the end of October. If branches are buried too late, the cicada eggs have weak resistance, the survival rate is lower, the output is naturally lower, and the underground survival time is longer.  

In whole plots of paulownia, poplar, and fruit trees, because the roots are relatively dense and sufficient to supply the nutrition needed by cicada ants for feeding and hatching, burying egg-laying branches in such dense places not only makes cicada ants grow faster, but also makes it easier to catch cicada nymphs when they emerge, saving labor. Its yield can be more than 6 times higher than scattered branch burial.  

Observe frequently every day the changes in the eggs on the egg-laying branches. If branches are found whose eggs are about to hatch into cicada ants, collect them back in time and immediately bury them under each tree root. In this way, the timing can be staggered from the first burial, so that the emergence times of cicada nymphs are spaced out, making it convenient to catch them every night. This burial method is the same as the first time, except that the pit should be a bit closer to the tree root. After burial, no measures need to be taken, and the cicada ants can absorb nutrients from the tree roots and sustain their own lives. This method allows emergence 1-2 years earlier than cicada eggs buried in the soil before hatching into cicada ants, and also helps improve the survival rate and output.  

Artificial farming requires burying branches once each year in different places around the roots of various trees. This can produce more high-quality cicada nymphs. Since the egg-laying branches are cut off, it does not affect the growth of the trees, and it can also encourage new growth points to sprout at the cut sites, achieving two benefits at once.

In many places in the north, people like to eat cicadas because their nutritional value is very rich, and they are said to be very delicious, but as the editor, I still do not dare to try them. As people are now increasingly particular about what they eat and prefer fresh things, the deliciousness of cicadas has gradually been discovered by more people.