The adults of Tenebrio molitor began to mate and lay eggs 4-5 days after emergence. Mating activities are divided into day and night, but night is more than day. It takes several hours to mate once, and it takes many times to mate and lay eggs in a lifetime, with 6- 15 grains each time. Each female adult can lay 30-350 eggs in a lifetime, most of which are 150-200. Eggs stick to the bottom of containers or feed. The life span of an adult is 3-4 months.

1. In the past, omnivorous Tenebrio molitor used to feed on grains. Under artificial feeding, it fed on processed grains such as bran, leafy vegetables, roots and fruits, and also ate dead pupae, dead adults and other animal carcasses, which became omnivorous.

This kind of insect lives in groups, regardless of its larvae and adults, it grows and reproduces better in social life. This laid the foundation for high-density industrial farming.

3. The larvae and adults of negative phototaxis Tenebrio molitor have strong light on the wall and move in weak light and darkness.

4. The sex ratio of mating Tenebrio molitor and the natural sex ratio can reach 3.5-5: 1. If the living environment is not good, the number of male Tenebrio molitor will exceed that of female, the ratio of male to female is 1: 4, and the survival rate is low. The male-female ratio of Tenebrio molitor should be 1: 1.

2. Tenebrio molitor farms and equipment

1. Selection of breeding grounds of Tenebrio molitor

Tenebrio molitor breeding factory should have power supply, convenient transportation, convenient transportation of feed, insect manure and Tenebrio molitor, and it is best to have a feed planting site nearby. The insect house should face south, with gout, temperature control, humidity control and sunshade facilities. Insect houses can be divided into seed houses and larva houses, and the indoor floor is generally cement.

2. Tenebrio molitor breeding room

In winter and summer, the internal temperature of the feeding room should be kept at 15-25℃. If the temperature is lower than 10℃, insects will not eat or grow, and if the temperature exceeds 30℃, they will be burned to death. The temperature should be kept at 60-70%, the ground should not be too wet, it should be warm in winter and cool in summer, and the room should be equipped with a thermometer.

Adults are raised in the seed room to lay eggs, and the collected eggs hatch regularly. Larvae after 1-2 months old are kept in the larval chamber, and the larvae are kept in the seed box. The feeding room should be dark and ventilated, and there should be heating and insulation equipment in winter. The size of the feeding room depends on the number of Tenebrio molitor. Generally, 300-500 boxes of plums can be kept in a room of 20㎡.

3. Tenebrio molitor breeding box

The specification and size of the feeding box can be determined according to its feeding scale and use space, but the inner wall of the box should be smooth, so that larvae can't climb out and adults can't escape. The size of the worm box is generally 80cm long. The width is 40cm, the height is 8cm, and the bottom is 18 mesh barbed wire. The mesh size is suitable for adults to extend out of the ventral ovipositor to lay eggs in the bran under the barbed wire, but the whole body can't get out of the net, and transparent tape is attached to the inside of the frame to prevent adults from climbing out of the box.

A piece of plywood with an area larger than the net bottom is placed under each worm box net, and an old newspaper with the same size is placed on the plywood. Spread bran evenly between the barbed wire and the old newspaper, and put some granular bait and leafy vegetables on the barbed wire. Each insect box raises 0. 1- 1 kg of insects, and each insect box is stacked with the backing paper at a certain angle, with a height of about1.5m..

Incubator and larval box are the same size. 80 cm long, 40 cm wide and 8 cm high. Plastic boxes can be made of wood. There should be no gap between the four walls and the bottom of the wooden insect box, and adhesive tape should be attached to the upper edge of the side wall to prevent the larvae from escaping. 1-2 months old larvae should be placed in wooden cases to increase air permeability and prevent water vapor condensation. The bottom of the incubator does not need barbed wire, but a plastic or wooden floor, and all the boxes are at a certain angle.

Screen tray and screen: several kinds of iron screens are used, and eggs can be screened with 12 mesh big holes; Comte can sieve 30 meshes of insect dung; The 60-mesh sieve can screen 1-2 instar larvae.

3. Tenebrio molitor feeding management

1. Feeding and management of Tenebrio molitor larvae

After the Tenebrio molitor eggs hatch for 6-7 days, the eggshell is drilled from the head, which is about 2 mm long. It eats part of the egg membrane, crawls into the bran in the incubator and feeds on the bran. At this time, the old newspaper should be removed, and the bran and larvae should be shaken into the box to feed. When it grows to 4-5 mm, the body color becomes pale, and the first molting begins after stopping eating 1-2 days. After molting, the body turns white and turns pale yellow in about 2 days. Generally, it molts once every 4-6 days, and gradually grows into an intermediate larva with a body length of 6- 10mm and a body width of 0.6- 1mm through molting four times in one month. Larval rearing is very important. At the temperature of 20-35℃, the relative humidity of air is 50-70%. 1-2-month-old larvae are called middle larvae, 2-4-month-old larvae are called big larvae, and larvae before pupation are called mature larvae. During this period, the feeding management is very simple, mainly as follows:

The relative humidity of air is 65-70%. The feeding temperature is controlled at 20-32℃, and the optimal feeding temperature is 27-32℃. A small amount of leafy vegetable fragments are often sprinkled on the surface of bran to make its water content reach 20%. When the bran turns into micro-spherical insect dung after eating, some bran can be properly sprinkled, and when it reaches the age of 1 month, it is screened with an 80-mesh net, and the remaining intermediate larvae are evenly divided into two larval boxes for feeding.

It is worth noting that although the consumption of larvae is small, they should be fed immediately after hatching, otherwise the larvae will eat the newly hatched larvae in the egg box.

2. Feeding and management of Tenebrio molitor larvae.

1-2-month-old larvae grow faster, consume more and excrete more feces. After the feeding management of 1 month, the intermediate larva molts 5-8 times, the body length can reach10-20mm, and the average weight is 0.07-0.15g. In management, we should do the following:

Sieve the feces every 7- 10 days, and the mesh number is about 40 meshes.

Feed wheat bran and leafy vegetable fragments once every morning and evening, and the feeding amount is about 10% of the insect weight, or 70% of wheat bran, 25% of corn flour, 4.5% of soybean and 0.5% of multivitamin. The actual feeding amount depends on the health status of insects, insect age and flexibility of environmental conditions. The temperature in the swarm is controlled at 20-32℃, the optimum temperature is 27-32℃, the air relative humidity is 65%-70%, and the indoor light is dark or weak.

3. Feeding and management of Tenebrio molitor larvae

Tenebrio molitor molts 8 times, and the big larvae about 2 months old eat more, grow faster and excrete more feces under normal feeding management. After molting 13- 15 times, it becomes a mature larva. The population thickness of large larvae is 1- 1.5cm, and shall not be thicker than 2cm. In dilute density culture, each box can reach 5000, and the mature larvae eat less and soon become pupae. When the mature larvae reach 22-32 mm in length, their weight reaches the maximum. According to the actual food intake of larval fish, bran and leafy vegetables are fully supplied, so that the fecal excretion rate of feeding and eating on the same day can reach over 90%.

4. Management of Tenebrio molitor pupae

The pupation period of mature larvae from pupa to adult is 1-2 weeks. The pupation stage can't be eaten outside, but it changes greatly in the body and is very sensitive to external environmental conditions. In order to ensure the smooth and high-quality completion of the eclosion process, the management of pupation stage should be done well.

Therefore, the pupae should be separated from the larvae after 6 hours of pupation, but the movement should be light, and then bran should be sprinkled, because the pupae can emerge into adults in about 7 days, and then they will eat. Do not turn or squeeze the pupa. The suitable temperature for eclosion is 24-32℃ and the relative humidity of air is 65%. Take out eclosion adults in time to prevent biting eclosion pupae. Keep the room clean and hygienic, and prohibit indoor smoking, spraying pesticides and sanitary chemicals.

5. Feeding and management of Tenebrio molitor adults

Tenebrio molitor adults are in the breeding period, and some of them die after breeding. For this kind of adult who died naturally, it is not necessary to pick it out, and it will soon be eaten by living adults, leaving COLEOPTERA and head, which can make up for the nutrition of adults. When raising adult species, it is necessary to check the insect box frequently, plug the holes and gaps of the insect box in time, keep the adhesive tape intact and smooth, and prevent the room temperature from being too high and the invasion of natural enemies. After laying eggs for two months, in order to improve the utilization rate of seed box and space, and improve the hatching rate and survival rate, it is best to eliminate the whole box of seed insects and replace them with new adults. In order to control the appropriate temperature and humidity in the insect breeding room, ventilation and humidity reduction should be done in summer, and door curtains and screens should be set to prevent flies from entering. Chemical pesticides cannot be used to kill mosquitoes and flies in the adult room, otherwise it will kill the adults and larvae of Tenebrio molitor. Leafy vegetables that have also been exposed to insecticidal pesticides cannot be fed to adults. Adults should keep warm and humid in winter.

The room temperature is controlled at 25-32℃, the air relative humidity is 65%-70%, and the indoor light is dark or weak. 0-3 days after emergence of 65438+, the outer wing of the adult changed from white to yellow-black, and its activity changed from weak to strong. During this period, you can't feed any feed. Four days after emergence, adults began to mate and lay eggs, and entered the peak of reproduction. Every morning, you should feed appropriate complete pellet feed, such as 45% bran, 20% flour, 6% corn flour, 5% fish meal, 24% bean cake or 40% bran. Or wheat bran 75%, fish meal 4%, corn flour 15%, sugar 4%, feed multivitamin 0.8% and mixed salt 1.2%, which are mainly used for feeding adults during spawning period. In addition, add a proper amount of leafy vegetables with water, and change the oviposit paper and bran on it every two days. Note that the concentrated solution should be disinfected and dried before use, and fresh wheat bran can also be used directly. Don't bring too much water into the feed box to prevent the feed from becoming moldy. It is best not to feed moldy feed.

6, Tenebrio molitor incubation period management

Feeding more foods with high sugar content during egg period can improve its reproductive rate. A female adult will lay more than 600 eggs in her lifetime. This is the egg of Tenebrio molitor, which is about 1 mm long and has a thin shell. If the room temperature is controlled at about 28 degrees, the larvae can hatch in 7 days. Larvae grow and develop by molting, molting once every 5-7 days, and it takes 6 molts to become a commercial insect. At this time, a dustpan is used. Don't underestimate this insect skin. It can extract chitin. This kind of insect dung is also very useful. Can be used as feed for poultry.

Five, Tenebrio molitor feeding process should pay attention to the problem.

1. Non-feeding personnel are prohibited from entering the feeding room. If you enter the room, be sure to disinfect it with quicklime outside the door.

2. In larval stage, molt, change feed, screen manure in time and add new feed every time. There are eggs and insect dung at the bottom of the feed in adult stage, which is easy to get moldy, so it is necessary to change the plate in time.

3, the feed should be fresh, the bran should not deteriorate, and the vegetables should not rot.

The breeder should check the situation of each insect stage every day. If pests and dead insects are found, they should be removed in time to prevent bacterial infection.

5. In order to speed up the reproduction and growth, glucose powder, vitamin powder and fish meal should be properly added to the feed for larvae and emerging adults, and fresh vegetables should be fed every day.

6. Control the invasion of Tenebrio molitor natural enemies.