Collection and Preservation Methods of Egg Branches in Cicada Farming
The cicada is actually what we usually call the grasshopper. Many people know that grasshoppers are insects rich in protein, and in many places grasshoppers are a very good wild game. But now, relying only on wild resources is far from enough to meet people's needs, so artificial grasshopper farming has become a project favored by many people.
Collection and preservation of egg branches in cicada farming
The cicada lays eggs around August each year. In the cicada farming process, the collection of cicada egg branches is a very important step. For the egg branches used in cicada farming, we generally use white wax twigs (a perennial shrub of the vitex type), poplar twigs, and other trees that have not been contaminated by pesticide spraying are all acceptable!
Fruit tree egg branches are generally not used as breeding stock, because fruit trees are heavily sprayed with pesticides. This causes great damage to the eggs. Although poplar branches have no pesticide residue, during the incubation process the branches rot very easily. So eggs that have not hatched will also fall out and die! In the cicada farming incubation process, the cicada nymphs must crawl out of the egg branches by themselves. If the egg branches rot early, there is no way for the eggs that have not yet hatched to hatch later. This is the main reason for the low hatching rate. So it is best to choose tree species with harder wood. White wax twigs are currently the best kind of egg branch.
For wild cicada monkeys (cicadas), after they lay eggs on newly grown twigs of the year, generally after a few hours you can see the withered and dead egg branches. If you see some pierced bark on the twigs, it means the cicada monkey has already laid eggs. If not, it means these are naturally dead branches and do not contain cicada eggs!
For the preservation of cicada eggs, the cicada egg branches collected in the current year are trimmed by hand and stored naturally in a cool, damp indoor room, with no other management needed. Wait until the beginning of spring the following year, when the temperature begins to rise and the weather becomes dry. Starting in March on the solar calendar, you need to sprinkle some water on the cicada egg branches every week to keep them at a certain humidity and temperature. In fact, after the temperature rises, the cicada eggs also begin to develop slowly. In this way, after incubation begins in May, it is very easy to hatch cicada nymphs, and the hatching rate will also be greatly increased!
The farming process of cicada egg branches
1. Collection and storage of cicada egg branches: Collecting cicada eggs is done after the cicadas lay eggs in autumn, generally around August. The cicada uses the small spine at its tail to pierce into annual tender twigs and lays eggs inside the twigs, mostly on white wax, poplar, and other juicy twigs. After laying eggs, the twigs mostly dry up within two hours, so most twigs that are green at the lower end and withered at the tip contain cicada eggs. Therefore, through one year of experimental observation of the monthly development of cicada eggs, we have summarized a set of the latest successful cicada farming techniques.
2. Post-collection treatment and storage: After collecting the twigs with cicada eggs, remove the dry leaves, cut off both ends, tie 100 pieces into a bundle, and store them in a dark, damp room for hatching in May of the following year. Cicada eggs of the current year will not hatch into cicada larvae. You can collect some wild cicada eggs from September each year to June of the following year and place them under a microscope for observation. By May of the following year, spread a layer of sand on the bottom of a large laundry basin, place the bundled twigs upright in the basin, keep the temperature at 28—34 degrees, and keep the humidity moist, that is, spray whenever it dries, using a sprayer aimed at the twigs until they are sprayed thoroughly wet.
3. Hatching: After about thirty-five days, larvae will hatch. At this time you will see some larvae crawling up and down on the twigs. At this point you must pay attention to the number of hatched larvae. Generally, after 4-5 days, the sand and soil in the basin together with the collected larvae should be scattered into the woods. For specific methods, you can refer to the illustrated guide to cicada farming techniques.
4. In the cicada farming process, you must absolutely avoid burying the seed twigs, eggs, and larvae, because this is simply subjective human imagination. Under natural conditions, only after cicada eggs hatch into larvae is it possible for them to burrow into the ground and grow. Eggs do not move, and it is impossible for them to enter the ground. Without the natural temperature and humidity, cicada eggs will die, let alone hatch into larvae in the soil. This is pure nonsense!
The nutritional value and effects of cicadas
Cicadas have extremely high medicinal and dietary nutritional value and a unique taste. Especially the newly emerged nymphs have the highest protein content, making them a rare high-protein, low-fat wild game delicacy. Besides their edible value, cicadas also have extremely high medicinal value. Cicadas have a unique flavor and are rich in nutrients, and also have good medicinal and health-care effects. Every 100g of dried cicada powder contains 4g water, 7.19g fat, 71.4g protein, 10.9g carbohydrates, and trace elements potassium 30mg, calcium 17mg, and zinc 8mg, so the nutritional value of cicadas is very high.
According to Chinese Materia Medica, cicadas have effects such as benefiting essence and strengthening yang, protecting the lungs and benefiting the kidneys, antibacterial and blood pressure-lowering, relieving cough and promoting fluid production, treating baldness and inhibiting cancer. Cicada slough is rich in chitin, isoxanthopterin, and adenosine triphosphatase, and is often used to treat externally contracted wind-heat, cough with hoarse voice, sore and swollen throat, wind-rash itching, red eyes and eye film, tetanus, and uncontrollable night crying in children. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that cicada slough is salty and sweet in taste and cold in nature, and can clear heat, extinguish wind, and calm fright. Cicadas contain rich protein, and cicada slough has a great therapeutic effect on treating stomach diseases.
How to farm cicadas
1. Primary seed sources can be obtained by natural collection in the field. Eggs, nymphs, and adults can all be collected as seed sources. From July to September, all insect stages can be collected; August to September is the best season to collect nymphs; September is the best time to collect cicada egg twigs, and they can be collected throughout the year.
2. 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 to gently remove from the trees the 1-2 year old thin dead twigs killed by cicada egg-laying. Any twig that is flat and withered on one side, with an incomplete surface and a large number of milky white oval eggs embedded in the xylem under the bark, is a cicada egg twig. Cut off the excess eggless dead tips above the egg-laying scar, leave 10-15 cm of eggless twig below the egg-laying scar, tie about 50 pieces into a small bundle, and put them in a plastic bag for later use.
3. To capture nymphs, target naturally matured fully grown nymphs. Nymphs can be collected from 7 pm to 12 midnight at the base of the tree trunk by shining a flashlight to catch them; after collection, put them in a gauze cage to emerge and lay eggs. In the egg-laying gauze cage, plant shrub-like host plants, mainly various seedling fruit trees.
4. There are many ways to catch adult cicadas on trees, such as using a bonfire to attract and gather them at night. To ensure the adult cicadas are not damaged, you can use wheat gluten to stick and capture them. The method is to wash the mixed dough with water many times to remove the starch, leaving pure gluten, store it in a broad lotus leaf or poplar leaf, stick it to the top of a bamboo pole, and use it to stick and catch adult insects in the early morning or daytime.
Although cicadas have high nutritional value and a certain health-care effect on the human body, farming cicadas is not a simple matter. It has many techniques and methods. Moreover, at present, not many people farm cicadas, so there is still some room for development.