Pests and Their Control Methods in Ground Beetle (Eupolyphaga) Farming

The main natural enemies of the ground beetle (Eupolyphaga) are mites, ants, rats, poultry, birds, woodlice, and so on.

1. Mites (1) Harm: The main mite harming the ground beetle (Eupolyphaga) is the flour mite, a type of mite that grows in spoiled feed or inside decaying ground beetles (Eupolyphaga). It easily occurs in the plum rain season when temperatures are high and humidity is great. Leftover feed and residue from the ground beetle (Eupolyphaga) easily breed mites in a 20-25~ (; environment. Mites have extremely strong reproductive capacity, reproducing 1 generation every 14-16 days, and each female mite can lay more than 200 eggs, so they very easily cause harm. The larvae and adults of the flour mite parasitize the thorax, abdomen, and between the segments of the leg bases of the ground beetle (Eupolyphaga), biting the body of the ground beetle (Eupolyphaga) and eating the newly hatched nymphs and the nymphs that are molting. If mite damage is not eliminated in time, it often causes mass death of the ground beetle (Eupolyphaga). (2) Control methods: ① Check frequently. If piles of small white wriggling mites are found on the surface of the rearing soil, remove them immediately, take out all the rearing soil and discard it, or place it under the blazing sun to kill the flour mites, and sieve out all the ground beetles (Eupolyphaga) and replace with new rearing soil. ② Do not place crops such as cottonseed and rice straw near the rearing pool, so as to prevent parasitic mites in them from crawling into the pool; do not feed too much feed each time, and promptly remove leftover feed residue, dead ground beetle bodies, empty egg cases, and so on. ③ Trap and kill flour mites. Oil cake, meat, or bone can be used as bait, placed in the pool during the day, and taken out once every 1—2 hours, and the attached mites killed with boiling water. Better results are obtained with multiple consecutive treatments. During the day, fire can also be used to burn dead the mites on the pool walls and the surface of the rearing soil. ④ Chemical control. A 2000-fold dilution of 40% dimethoate emulsifiable concentrate can be sprayed on the pool surface once every 5-7 days, and spraying 3N4 times in succession has a certain effect (but the solution must not be sprayed on the insect bodies). ⑤ If ground beetles (Eupolyphaga) carrying mites are found, they can be immediately processed into finished products. ⑥ Improve feeding methods. Bran and rice bran should be soaked cooked with boiling water or roasted in a pan before feeding, to avoid feed carrying mites. 2. Woodlice (1) Harm: The woodlouse is a crustacean that often moves on the surface (top layer) of the rearing soil in the rearing pool and around the pool walls, competing for the feed of the ground beetle (Eupolyphaga) and harming its young nymphs. (2) Control methods: ① Do not bring miscellaneous items such as rice straw and grass clippings into the rearing pool, and eliminate the breeding sources of woodlice. ② If woodlice are found, they can be caught by hand. If the woodlice are in holes outside the pool, water can be poured in to force them to crawl out for capture. ③ A trichlorfon solution can be sprayed around the rearing pool. 3. Ants: Ditches can be dug around the rearing pool and filled with water to prevent ants from invading. If ants are found in the pool, meat bones, fried dough sticks, and so on can be used to lure them out of the pool for killing. In addition, for enemies such as chickens, ducks, cats, rats, geckos, and spiders, besides covering the pits and pools well, gaps such as surrounding walls and door cracks must be promptly sealed; in hot weather, the tops of the pits and pools should be covered with wire gauze to facilitate ventilation and heat dissipation; geckos and spiders can also be caught by hand.