The Eupolyphaga sinensis we are going to introduce today belongs to the genus Eupolyphaga sinensis, which is also strictly a cockroach, because the turtle family is a family of cockroaches. This insect is distributed in China and Outer Mongolia, and there are many common names, such as soil fat round (no, it should be "soil yuan"), earth turtle worm (calendar lady silently glanced at the title), ground turtle insect, ground turtle and so on, anyway, it sounds very "earthy". But the fact that a creature can have so many miscellaneous common names also means one thing: it has been familiar to people since ancient times.
In traditional Chinese medicine, turtle is a common medicinal herb. Of course, like many other medicinal herbs, the name "turtle" is not necessarily the Chinese turtle. Other genera of turtles (such as polyphaga spp.) and even small strongs of other families (such as opisthoplatia orientalis of the family Scorpidae, known as "Phnom Penh turtle"), are also used as turtles. The online illustrations of medicinal land turtles are even more varied. Of course, in fact, the most widely cultivated species is the Chinese turtle.
Write about turtles, read as Oriental cockroaches.
The Chinese turtle has a typical turtle morphology and living habits. They are different from the little strong seen at home, they are round and round, and the small short legs are suitable for digging. The turtles are not good at climbing, and are usually buried in the soil, facing the loess with their backs to the sky; at night, they will come out to pick up dead branches and leaves and some other food. Females will randomly plant their pods in the soil, and the newborns will hatch and begin their gray-headed life in place.
The Chinese real turtle is real. Image: terrarium.pl
Females and nymphs of the true earth turtle are rounded, while males have wings that can help them travel around in search of a mate. This female wingless male winged sexual dimorphism is very common in the turtle family.
Male real turtle. Image: cockroach.speciesfile.org
In addition to living in the soil, another characteristic of the cockroaches of the turtle family is that it grows and reproduces slowly. The Chinese turtle is considered to grow relatively quickly among the turtles, and the eggs can hatch in 2 to 3 months; some turtles, such as the turtle genus, may take a year or more to hatch. But fortunately, they are simple to raise, so they can be cultivated on a large scale at low cost, and they can be healthy with cheap feeds such as rice bran and wheat bran. There is no large-scale cultivation of medicinal turtles in Europe and the United States, but turtles are kept in these places in a different capacity: they are a very popular type of pet for insect lovers. Chinese turtles, Egyptian turtles and sols are commonly reared species.
Polyphaga saussurei, a relative of the Chinese turtle, is a large turtle that takes years to grow. Photography: Deep Mountain Bug Groan
Turtle family has always been my favorite. These little things are very simple to raise, and they don't smell bad like some cockroaches, but they require enough patience and waiting. They also open the door for those who are willing to learn about the humble soil animals. Individual breeding can mimic the leaf-litter environment in the wild, where they feed on fallen leaves and also accept food waste such as fruits and vegetables. Watching the seemingly unpalatable fallen leaves in the jar decrease little by little, the turtles are slowly growing, and people can't help but feel admiration: what a cute little creature, eating dead leaves, but giving back to nature is the fertile soil and other animals love high-quality protein.
The soil and the layers of fallen leaves that cover it look dead, but there are countless cycles of energy and matter vital to ecological health. How succinct and pale in comparison to the meticulously cared for lawns and concrete floors of the city.
Fallen leaves eaten by cockroaches of the turtle family. Photo: Deep Mountain Worm Groan
Not only the turtles, but also the whole cockroach order has a very strong tendency to eat fallen leaves. Studies have shown that cockroaches are more likely to feed on dry plants than fresh plants. Cockroaches are often simply described as herbivores, but in fact they are more suitable for the term Detritivore. In the co-evolution of cockroaches and symbiotic microorganisms that degrade cellulose in their hind intestines, the extreme wood-eating eusocial insects, termites, were eventually produced.