What are the breeding methods and techniques for golden cicadas?
The golden cicada is actually the cicada before it has shed its shell. Do not underestimate this golden cicada; it is especially rich in nutrients, and in many places the golden cicada is served as a famous dish, with delicious meat. The golden cicada also has great medicinal value. With so many benefits, golden cicada farming projects have risen rapidly. So how are golden cicadas bred? What are the breeding methods and techniques for golden cicadas?
1. Obtaining seed sources
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 stages can be collected; from August to September is the best season for collecting nymphs; September is the best time for collecting cicada egg-bearing branches.
For artificial breeding of golden cicadas, collection can be done throughout the year. For egg collection, an ideal site with dense trees and many cicadas can be chosen. Use fruit branch shears or a long pole with a hook at the tip to gently remove from the tree the 1-2 year old thin dead twigs killed by cicada egg-laying. Any twig that is flat and dried on one side with an incomplete surface and has large numbers of milky white elongated oval eggs embedded in the wood beneath the bark is a cicada egg twig. Cut off the excess eggless dead tips above the egg-laying scars, leave 10-15 cm of eggless branch below the egg-laying scar marks, tie about 50 into a small bundle, and place them in a plastic bag for later use. To capture nymphs, use naturally mature fully developed nymphs as the target. Nymphs can be collected by shining a flashlight at the base of the tree trunk from 7 to 12 at night; after collection, place them in a gauze cage to emerge and lay eggs. In the egg-laying gauze cage, shrub-like host plants are planted, mainly various seedling fruit trees. There are many ways to catch adult cicadas on trees, such as using a fire pile to attract them at night. To ensure the adult cicadas are not damaged, wheat gluten can be used to stick them. The method is to rinse the prepared dough with water many times to remove the starch, leaving pure gluten, store it in large lotus leaves or poplar leaves, stick it to the tip of a bamboo pole, and use it to stick and catch adults in the early morning or during the day.
The collection of egg-laying branches should be taken as the main way to obtain seed sources.
2. Seeding
The seeding targets are newly hatched nymphs and eggs close to hatching. Bring egg-bearing branches collected directly from the field or from seed source sites indoors in a concentrated way to promote hatching. Hatching method: in a plastic box 70 cm long, 40 cm wide and 20 cm high, spread 5-10 cm of fine dry sand on the bottom, place the egg branches upright or horizontally on it in bundles, and continuously spray mist with a small sprayer to maintain high air humidity around the egg-bearing branches, so that excess water droplets are absorbed by the fine sand at the bottom. During this period, check the hatching of the eggs repeatedly; once nymph activity is found, the branches together with the fine sand can be placed in the breeding site for seeding.
On the ground under the host plants in the rearing site, about 1 m away from the base of the trunk, dig regular narrow trenches about 30-50 cm deep, such as in ring, square, triangular, parallel or radial shapes, in order to facilitate later digging and collection. After “seeding”, cover with soil and press firm, and keep records of time, quantity, “seeding” trench shape and depth, etc.
From the egg stage to growing and developing into a fully mature nymph (cicada turtle), the cicada needs to grow underground for three winters and summers (actually 2 years): in the first year, growth starts in June, and in that year the body weight is only about 1 g, and the whole body and eyes are milky white; in the second year, the body weight develops to about 3 g, the body pigmentation deepens, and the eyes are pink; in the third year, the nymph (cicada turtle) matures, with a body weight of 4.5-5 g, averaging 210 per kilogram, and at this time the body color is brown and the eyes are black-gray. According to body weight, body color depth and eye color changes, the time age stage of nymph growth and development can be accurately judged.
3. Disease prevention
(1) Nymphs after emerging from the soil (cicada turtles) and adults after emergence have many natural enemies, such as toads, snakes, rodents, hedgehogs, wild cats, sparrows and mantises, all of which like to eat nymphs (cicada turtles). Microorganisms such as Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae and entomopathogenic algae fungi (cicada flower) also cause parasitic harm. In addition, floods and pollution from pesticides and chemical fertilizers also cause relatively great harm to nymphs (cicada turtles) or cicadas, and attention should be paid to protection during breeding.
(2) The most important seasons are the egg stage on trees, the occurrence period of “cicada ants”, and the emergence period of fully developed nymphs. The main natural enemies during the egg stage on trees and the cicada ant occurrence period are ants and red minute flower bugs. Treatment measures are to soak and wash egg-bearing branches with 100-fold strong ammonia solution, or use DDVP (organophosphate insecticide) and strong chlorine for soil treatment.
4. Breeding management
After cicada eggs are buried underground, attention should be paid to drainage and flood prevention during the rainy season. In dry weather, water white willow twigs, willow and poplar trees, or apple trees. While watering, also apply farmyard manure to promote luxuriant growth, provide sufficient nutrient sources for cicada larvae and young cicada monkeys, make the young cicada monkeys grow vigorously, increase individual size and raise yield. Strictly prevent trampling by people and livestock and damage by natural enemies such as ants and moles.