Two Essential Technical Points for Ground Beetle Farming

(1) Rearing equipment can be designed according to the scale and purpose of rearing. Here only the rearing equipment used to provide a source of medicinal insects is introduced. The standard rearing pit makes use of old houses, temporarily unused livestock sheds with roofs and walls, toilets, and so on, by digging about 67 cm deep underground, 70-100 cm wide, and of unlimited length (which can be determined according to the rearing quantity and the actual conditions inside the building). Level and tamp the bottom of the pit, then build and plaster the surrounding walls with cement to make them smooth. It is even better to attach 3-7 cm wide glass (931,7.00, 0.76%) at the pit opening above the pit wall to prevent the ground beetles from escaping. Inside the pit, use thin cement boards or glass to divide it into several small compartments. The size of each small compartment should be standardized so that the release quantity for rearing nymphs of different stages and the yield per unit area can be calculated. Place 20-27 cm of rearing soil into the pit, then separately place in adults or nymphs of different instars. Rearing in separate compartments facilitates management and feeding. Because most of this kind of rearing pit extends below the ground surface, the temperature inside the pit is higher than the ground surface in winter and lower than the ground surface in summer, which can reduce the impact of the seasons on the ground beetles, favor their growth and development, and increase the survival rate. The structure of a semi-underground rearing pool is similar to the standard rearing pit, except that only half the depth of the pool is buried underground while the other half rises above the ground. The pool is no longer divided into compartments. The pool is 2 m long and 1.5 m wide. A semi-underground rearing pool is suitable for rearing adults, carrying out mass reproduction, and obtaining insect bodies for medicinal use.

(2) Preparation and treatment of rearing soil. The ground beetle is an insect that hides by day and comes out at night. It hides in the soil during the day and likes to search for food in the soil or on the soil surface. Therefore, soil is the small living environment of this kind of insect. The quality of the soil and the combination of materials it contains are directly related to the survival, growth, and development of the ground beetle. 1: Soil texture and moisture content: The requirements for selecting rearing soil in different places should be adjusted according to specific conditions, such as vegetable garden soil, garbage soil, ditch mud, stove-foot soil, and sandy-clay mixed soil, while mixing in an appropriate amount (20%-30%) of fermented chicken manure, pig manure, horse manure, burnt mud ash, or rice husk ash. No matter which kind of soil is selected, after mixing it should be loose in texture, rich in nutrients, and moderate in dryness and moisture, able to form a ball when squeezed in the hand and break apart when the hand is released. If the moisture content is measured, it should be 15%-20%. This kind of soil texture is convenient for the ground beetle to hide, burrow in or crawl out, and move freely to search for food and find mates. 2: Treatment of rearing soil: Before the rearing soil is placed into the pit or pool, it must be exposed to sunlight, sterilized, freed of insects, and sieved to remove impurities, bricks, and stones. All factors unfavorable to the life of the ground beetle should be eliminated in advance as much as possible. The thickness of the rearing soil laid in the pool should differ according to different insect ages or adult stages, and the soil thickness should also differ with different densities in the same pool and in different seasons. Experience has shown that the thickness of the rearing soil should be 7-10 cm for 1st-4th instar nymphs, 16-20 cm for 5th-8th instar insects, and 20-26 cm for 9th-11th instar insects and adults. In the same pool, where the insect population density is high, the soil should be thicker; where the density is low, the soil should be shallower. In summer the soil should be thinner, and in winter thicker. For rearing breeding insects, the soil should be thicker than for rearing medicinal insect bodies, so as to reduce interference during mating and egg-laying. The ground beetle is an omnivorous insect. However, judging from the feeding physiology of insects and their different degrees of greed for food, any omnivorous insect also has the range of food it most likes to eat. Under artificially controlled rearing conditions, whether the selected and combined feed is appropriate is directly related to the success or failure of rearing and the size of the harvest. 1: Types of feed: Generally they can be divided into 3 kinds of feed of different natures: Plant-based feed: including wheat bran, rice bran, oil cake meal, powder residue, broken rice, corn (2520, 10.00, 0.40%), and other coarse grain powders. Stir-fry until a fragrant smell is released, spread out to cool, and then feed. Animal-based feed: leftover pig, cattle, chicken, duck, fish, and other scraps from restaurants can all be used as feed for them to eat, but they must not be spoiled or deteriorated, to prevent the ground beetles from becoming diseased and dying. If conditions permit, they can be processed into a floss-like mixture of bone and meat and stored refrigerated. Yellow mealworms, earthworms, crickets, locusts, moths, and other small insects can be killed and put in directly for them to eat. Earthworms can also be artificially reared (in addition to medicinal use) to feed the ground beetles, which find them most appetizing. Green feed is food that must be combined for the ground beetle. Green vegetable leaves, cabbage, lettuce, amaranth, as well as the leaves of sesame, broad bean, peanut, sweet potato, and so on, and pumpkin, loofah flowers and fruits can all be fed. Melon and fruit peels and pulp and Chinese yam cut into pieces are even more preferred. The green feed fed should be kept fresh and clean. Extra attention must be paid not to pick green feed that has been sprayed with insecticides, to prevent the ground beetles from being poisoned to death. 2: Combined feeding: In the high-temperature seasons of summer and autumn, green feed should be added 1-2 times every day, preferably put in in the morning and kept fresh. To increase nutrition, pumpkin flowers and loofah flowers are indispensable. For the number of feedings and the amount fed per day, the principle should be to feed once every other day in low-temperature months and 1-2 times every day in high-temperature months. The amount fed should match the insect population density in the pit or pool. After each feeding, observe whether feed remains or is lacking. In principle, ensure that the concentrated feed is eaten up and some green feed remains. The insects should be allowed to eat their fill, while also avoiding unnecessary waste and excess leftover material that attracts parasites and plant-feeding mites. Before and after molting, the ground beetle eats less, so feed less; during molting it stops feeding, so do not feed. When many molted skins are found on the surface of the rearing soil and a large amount of feed is urgently needed, restore normal feeding in time. During hibernation, feeding may be omitted, but if the weather suddenly turns warm and insects are found emerging from the soil and moving about, an appropriate amount of concentrated feed should also be scattered for them to eat.