Cicada Farming Techniques Explained in Detail: A Complete Guide to Artificial Rearing Methods
Cicada farming requires attention to 5 areas, namely feed supply, environmental conditions, disease and pest prevention, production facilities, and harvesting and processing. Choose healthy tree species with well-developed root systems, vigorous growth, and abundant sap. The suitable depth for cicada egg planting is 30-50 cm. After emerging from the soil, the nymphs and the adults after eclosion have many natural enemies, so attention and protection are needed during farming.
1. Feed supply: Choose healthy tree species with well-developed root systems, vigorous growth, and abundant sap, such as poplar, elm, willow, paulownia, or various fruit trees in orchards. In addition, interplant some root and tuber crops, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, etc.
2. Environmental conditions: The suitable depth for cicada egg planting is 30-50 cm. It should face the sun and be protected from freezing. The soil should be loose, fertile, and pollution-free, and must not be too dry, nor have excessive water content or water accumulation. Ensure the host plant roots grow and develop normally, and are young, tender, well-developed, and juicy. In winter, cover the egg-planting area with wheat straw, rice straw, corn stalks, etc., to maintain ground temperature.
3. Disease and pest prevention: After emerging from the soil, the nymphs and the adults after eclosion have many natural enemies, such as toads, snakes, rodents, hedgehogs, feral cats, sparrows, and mantises, etc. Microorganisms such as Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae, and entomopathogenic algae also parasitize and cause harm. In addition, floods and pollution from pesticides and chemical fertilizers also cause relatively great harm to the nymphs (cicada turtles) or cicadas, so attention and protection are needed during farming.
4. Production facilities: Build production facilities for adults and nymphs. In addition to naturally collecting cicada eggs, you can establish gauze-net greenhouses to provide space for adult cicadas to lay eggs. You can use fruit trees in abandoned orchards, replant fruit tree seedlings, set up fences around them with cement posts or bamboo poles, then pull iron wires in between, and cover the outside with nylon window screen mesh. Adults that have eclosed or been collected mate and lay eggs inside, and afterward you can retain the number of adults as needed, with no need to collect seed stock from the wild again.
5. Harvesting and processing: From mid-to-late June each year (around the summer solstice) to early August (around the beginning of autumn) is the best season for field harvesting, with the most concentrated period in early July or after rain. The nymphs use a pair of saw-like front legs to dig out of the soil in the moist, soft ground. After crawling out onto the ground, they move briefly on the surface, then climb up tree trunks or greenhouse frames to prepare for molting. They eclose into adult cicadas between 4-6 a.m. the next morning. You can use a flashlight for illumination and search for and catch them at night on the ground under the trees and on the trunks, or catch the tender newly eclosed adult cicadas on the trees in the early morning.