Chinese herbal medicine Di Gu Niu, also known as ant lion or golden sand cow, is the larva of the antlion in the family Myrmeleontidae. It is found in South China, Taiwan, Sichuan, and other areas. It has the functions of promoting urination, stopping malaria, detoxification, and eliminating rottenness. So what are the quality requirements for Di Gu Niu in Chinese herbal medicine?
Image of Di Gu Niu
【Quality requirements for Di Gu Niu】
It is produced in Guangdong Province, including Conghua, Huidong, Zijin, Heping, Qujiang, Wengyuan, Nanxiong, Shixing, Lechang, Renhua, Guangning, Zhuhai, Doumen, Meixian, Jiangmen, Maoming, Zhanjiang, and other cities and counties.
Harvesting and processing of Di Gu Niu: It is suitable to capture them in summer and autumn when the temperature is high. After capture, they are mixed and stir-fried in hot sand until they expand, then they are taken out and sieved to remove the sand.
Characteristics: The body of the larva is coarse and granular, with a length of 0.7-1 centimeters, yellow-brown or light brown in color, and covered with short hairs.
The anterior end of the head has pincer-like mandibles. The abdomen expands or slightly expands due to stir-frying, with several circular stripes and black spots.
It has 3 pairs of legs. The head and legs have mostly fallen off due to stir-frying. The body is light and the texture is brittle. It has a slight fishy smell and a slightly salty taste.
Quality requirements: It is best to have a large and expanded body, yellow-brown in color, and intact without breakage.
【Recipe for pickled Di Gu Niu】
Ingredients: Di Gu Niu.
Seasonings: Spices, salt, rock sugar, pickled vegetable water.
Image of Di Gu Niu
Method: Wash and dry the Di Gu Niu, then put it in pickled vegetable water, add salt, spices, and rock sugar, and let it soak for 3 days. It can be consumed after fishing it out, and there is no need to add any other seasonings when eating.
【The original form of Di Gu Niu】
Di Gu Niu: Antlion, 32mm in length, 73mm wingspan. The body is slender, resembling a dragonfly. The head is wider than the prothorax, with brown compound eyes, black head, yellow mouthparts, black antennae, and yellow scape.
The prothorax is yellow, with two wide brown longitudinal bands on the back, and long yellow hairs on the prothorax. The mesothorax and metathorax are black, noticeably larger than the prothorax. The legs are yellow and have long yellow hairs. The wings are transparent, with a light iridescent color, and the wing membrane is soft and fragile.
The shape and size of the fore and hind wings are similar, and the wing veins are yellow. The abdomen is dark brown. The larva resembles a spider, with a length of 6-18mm, ranging from yellowish-brown to dirty white, with black-brown markings;
There are scattered and clustered black-brown hard hairs on the body, a pair of pincer-like mandibles on the head, no wings, and three pairs of legs on the thorax, with a relatively large abdomen.
