How to build a rearing room and rearing pools for ground beetle (Eupolyphaga sinensis) farming

It is very necessary to create a good, comfortable living environment for ground beetles; suitable sites and equipment can make ground beetles grow quickly and increase yields. At present, there are mainly two kinds of rearing rooms for farming ground beetles: ordinary rearing houses and greenhouse-style rearing houses.

1. Ordinary rearing houses should be built in a place with high terrain, shade and moisture, convenient drainage, facing away from water and toward the sun, and relatively quiet. The house should face south with windows at the front and back so that indoor air can circulate when needed. Doors and windows should be fitted with screen mesh to prevent male adult ground beetles from flying out and natural enemies of ground beetles from invading. The room temperature should not exceed 36°C. Some deciduous trees can be planted in front of and behind the house, which can provide shade in summer without blocking winter sunlight. Electric lights should be installed in the rearing house, which can adjust the lighting time as needed and also provide illumination when feeding in the evening. On both sides of the room, 4 to 5 layers of rearing pools can be built.

2. Greenhouse-style rearing houses should be built as slope-style plastic solar greenhouses in places with flat ground and sufficient sunlight. The north wall is 2.5 m high, the front wall is 1.5 m high, and the greenhouse width is 4 to 5 m. The greenhouse walls can be rammed with earth or built with red bricks. The ground inside the greenhouse should be smoothed with cement. The top film is best covered with double-layer polyvinyl chloride film, which helps raise the greenhouse temperature and extend the service life of the film. Fix the film well with pressure film lines, install a small door on one wall, and leave a window on the other side.

The rearing pools in the greenhouse can be built as single-layer or multi-layer. A single-layer pool is made by using bricks to build several small pools 30 cm high, and the inner walls of the pools are tiled with ceramic tiles or glass strips to prevent ground beetles from escaping. The pools can be built in two rows, left and right, with an aisle left in the middle. Single-layer pools are convenient to manage and operate, but the greenhouse utilization rate is not high.

Multi-layer pools are made by using angle iron or wooden strips to make multi-layer supports, with plastic basins placed on the shelves. The distance between layers is 30 cm, divided into three rows: front, middle, and rear, with an aisle left in the middle. This multi-layer rack-and-basin farming method is convenient to manage, evenly heated, can increase the rearing quantity, raise yields, and has high economic benefits.