Detailed Guide to Golden Cicada Farming Technology, Complete Strategy for Artificial Rearing Methods
The golden cicada is a representative species of the cicada family. The nymphs are called different names in different places - Luoguo, Pachai Black Cicada, Zhiliaogui, Zhiliahou are all names for it. The golden cicada is very rich in nutritional components, and its medicinal value is also very high. In particular, the shell of the golden cicada is a kind of traditional Chinese medicine, and the idiom "golden cicada sheds its shell" also comes from it. Although the cicada's living territory is becoming smaller and smaller, the number of golden cicadas existing in nature has not significantly decreased; now, in order to meet market demand, some people have already used artificial farming methods to obtain them.
The Living Habits of the Golden Cicada
It is distributed in Henan, Hebei, Shandong, Anhui and other places in China. The black cicada generally completes 1 generation in 3-5 years, and there are also records of completing 1 generation in 5-6 years or 12-13 years. The eggs overwinter in groups on young twigs of the current year or biennial branches, and nymphs of various instars gather on plant roots in the soil to overwinter, that is, there are two overwintering forms: eggs and nymphs of different sizes; the overwintering sites are also divided into two environments, above ground and underground.
Overwintering eggs begin to hatch in mid-May of the following year, with the peak hatching period from late May to early June, and hatching activity ends in late June. Eggs mostly hatch in the afternoon during the day, accounting for about 80%, and fewer hatch at night, about 20%. The egg stage is close to 300 days. The activity of overwintering nymphs is most affected by soil temperature and host plant sap. When the low temperature is above 10°C-15°C, the tree sap begins to flow, and the overwintering nymphs begin piercing and sucking feeding activities accordingly.
The nymphs hatched from overwintering eggs (called cicada ants) sneak into the soil, suck sap at the roots of host plants, and have low mobility. As the instar increases, they build soil chambers of different sizes and shapes and inhabit them. The outer surface of the soil chamber is rough, the inner wall is smooth and moist, and part of the wall is attached to plant roots for feeding. After autumn when the temperature drops, they drill into deep soil layers to overwinter, and after spring warms they migrate upward again to move near tree roots. Among the year, the number of nymphs in the soil is highest in May, when a large number of overwintering eggs hatch into the soil, and it is also the period when last-instar nymphs are about to emerge from the soil, molt, and become adults.
After completing the entire life process of the nymph in the soil, mature nymphs drill out of the soil from late May to mid-to-late August, and crawl to shrub branches, weed stems and other places, using claws and spines on the forelegs to attach to bark, branches and leaves, then molt and emerge as adults. Mid-June to mid-July is the peak period for adult appearance, and early October is the end period. About 20 days after adult emergence, they mate and lay eggs. Egg laying begins in late June, late June to late August is the peak egg-laying period for adults, and early September to early October is the late egg-laying period. The last sighting period of adults is early November. That is, the adult egg-laying period can last from late June to early October.
Adults mostly emerge at 8-10 p.m. and 4-6 a.m., and the male-to-female ratio is basically maintained at about 1:1. Adults often rest on tree trunks and branch tips, and have the habit of flying toward fire at night. Adults lay eggs on 1-2 year old branches with a thickness of 2-7 mm. The eggs are laid in the xylem of branch tips. The egg niches are closely connected, mostly in a single row, sometimes in double rows, arranged in a straight line, and a few are curved or spiral. Each egg niche contains 6-8 eggs, and one egg-laying branch contains 12-479 eggs, generally 20-200 eggs, with an average of 146 eggs. Each branch has 6-146 egg niches. Each female insect carries 500-1000 or more eggs in its abdomen, with a maximum of 1500 eggs, a minimum of 20 eggs, and an average of 800 eggs. Adult lifespan is about 3 months, and the occurrence period is generally from July to September each year. Adults have wings and can fly, and live by sucking the nutrient sap in young twigs of trees with piercing-sucking mouthparts. After mating, the female cicada first uses its ovipositor to insert into the xylem of young twigs of the current year or biennial branches before laying eggs, and then lays the eggs inside. At the same time, it causes the young twigs to dehydrate, dry up and die, causing harm to trees.
Golden Cicada Farming Technology
1. Selecting breeding trees
Dwarf fruit trees such as apricot, peach, apple trees or other dwarf shrub varieties with waxy surfaces are all good trees for golden cicada breeding. Pay attention to timely pruning of overly tall branches to facilitate breeding management. Interplant fruit tree seedlings in the gaps between trees to increase branches for golden cicada egg laying. Under the trees, plant golden cicada seed eggs. For methods, refer to “New Golden Cicada Farming Technology”
2. Building breeding greenhouses
Build breeding greenhouses just before the golden cicadas are about to emerge, and the area should preferably be 1 mu each. Around the breeding area, use cement pillars or bamboo poles to set up a fence. The row spacing of cement pillars is 5 m, with bamboo poles set up in between, then pull and fix iron wires, and then cover the outside with nylon window screen mesh. For breeding, choose plots with high and dry terrain and convenient drainage and irrigation. Absolutely avoid building breeding greenhouses on low-lying plots where water easily accumulates.
3. Seed insect management and disease prevention
After the golden cicadas emerge, because the adults have strong phototaxis, in the early stage wait until they have emerged as adults before entering the greenhouse. When catching, emerged golden cicadas will fly around and bump everywhere upon seeing light, causing seed insect death. Therefore, all golden cicadas that emerge within the first week can be caught, and after one week begin letting the golden cicadas emerge naturally and lay eggs. The seed retention density is about 10000 per mu, with females and males each accounting for about 50%. Each female golden cicada can produce 500-1500 seed eggs. Each greenhouse can roughly provide seed for golden cicada breeding on 20 mu of land. About 20 days after emergence, golden cicadas can mate and lay eggs. When laying eggs, the golden cicada pierces the branch epidermis and lays eggs in the xylem. During the mating and egg-laying period of golden cicadas, try not to walk around or make noise in the greenhouse, to avoid adverse effects on the golden cicadas.
Because nymphs (Zhiliaogui) after emerging from the soil and adults after emergence have many natural enemies, such as toads, sparrows and mantises, protection work inside the greenhouse should be done well. In addition, frequently check whether the screen mesh is damaged, and strictly prevent golden cicadas from escaping. Microorganisms such as Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae and entomogenous algae fungi (cicada flower) can all cause parasitic harm to golden cicada seed insects, so protection should be strengthened during farming. During the emergence period of mature nymphs, the egg period under trees and the occurrence period of cicada ants, the main natural enemies of golden cicadas are ants and red minute flower bugs, which must be strictly guarded against. Strong ammonia essence etc. can be used for soil treatment.
4. Harvesting and preserving seed eggs
In addition to naturally collecting cicada eggs, screen greenhouses can be established to provide space for adult egg laying. Fruit trees in abandoned orchards can be used, fruit tree seedlings can be replanted, and cement pillars or bamboo poles can be used around them to set up a fence, then iron wires etc. can be pulled in between, and the outside can be covered with nylon window screen mesh. Emerged or collected adults mate and lay eggs inside, and afterward the number of adults can be retained as needed, with no need to collect seed sources from the wild again.
Early to late September is the best season for harvesting golden cicada seed eggs in breeding greenhouses. Fruit branch scissors or a long pole with a hook at the top can be used. The 1-2 year old thin, dry, dead branches on the tree that were killed by eggs and whose surface is incomplete and whose subepidermal xylem is inlaid with large numbers of milky white long oval eggs are cicada eggs. Cut off the excess eggless dead tips above the egg-laying niches, leave 5-10 cm of eggless branch section below the egg-laying niche marks, tie 50-100 into 1 small bundle, put them into plastic bags or lay them flat in the hatching room, and after natural treatment they can be used as seed.