A few days ago, I sent out a piece of the country food "lichen dish" that "sneaked out" after the rain, and today I will talk about another kind of farmhouse delicacy "buffalo" that flies out after the rain. This buffalo is not a buffalo cultivated in the southern fields, because the cow cannot fly, but a large insect that comes out after a heavy rain.
I have not experienced the amateur life of children living in the city, but the juvenile life of rural children must be colorful: not to mention the "paper airplane" between primary school classes, "playing four corners", "beating cattle (gyroscopes)", and even a group of students shouting trumpets in winter, "squeezing the corner" against the wall, or raising one leg, lifting up "chiseling", bustling and crowded; love quiet also do not forget to find stones, firewood sticks or paper balls, come to the "below", "five sons plus single" puzzle games; girls are "grabbing stones" and "jumping rope"; girls are "grabbing stones" and "jumping rope" , "Kicking shuttlecocks" and other relatively technical games. In his spare time, boys play more wildly, and playing "slingshot", "digging bird's nest", "poking horse honeycomb" is even more addictive.
In the summer evenings, swarms of black mosquitoes attract large numbers of dragonflies (dragonflies), children will find sour jujube tree "needles", waving to catch, the wings of the mantis will break the sand, tied with thin lines to the slender tail, let go for fun. Encountering a larger, blue-green "ant officer" is more likely to cause the fun of chasing. Even on heavy rainy days, it will not disturb the wild fun of children, because there are "buffaloes" about to appear. People will find canned bottles or pots to catch.
"Buffalo" is what we call this big black bug that can fly on a rainy day. It has a pair of black hard wings on the outside and a pair of "soft wings" on the inside, with a very hard leathery protection around the neck. Buffalo don't fly high, they don't fly far, and we can chase and pounce with needles, branches, and even hands. But there are also buffaloes in the grass on the ground that are running slightly smaller, but have a swollen belly, and it is female because there are so many seeds in it. There are two large pliers in front of the buffalo head, and it hurts when it is accidentally clipped. We are all holding its head from behind and putting it into the bottle. Take it home and eat it directly, pay attention to soaking it in salt water, and then clean it up, cut off its head, wings, legs, and then fry or fry it in oil to eat, which is a rare rural delicacy.
I remember once chasing buffalo on a rainy day and a few small hairs on the slope, and unconsciously ran 5 kilometers away and approached the village of "Wangjiazhuang". It was my grandmother's house, it was getting late, they proposed to go to the neighboring grandmother's house to see, I also fell a little, did not dare to go home by myself, so I killed Wang Jiazhuang with them. When my grandmother saw her grandson, she would naturally not let her go, not to mention that it was late, so I stayed at their grandmother's house. Forgetting the specific situation, I remember that his grandmother simply processed the buffalo we caught, fried it in oil, and we ate well and slept in Wangjiazhuang at night.
At that time, there was no telephone, it was not convenient to pass on the message, and our three children only cared about their own happiness, where would parents think of the worry of not seeing their children home. The parents of the 3 of us inquired about each other, and knew that the 3 of us did not go home, it is estimated that it is in one piece, where may it run? My heart was tangled all night. The next morning, my father and the father of the other 2 people went to Wangjiazhuang to find someone, and we were also urged by his grandmother to eat breakfast and go back early because we did not tell your family about the past. In the middle of the road, we met with the parents, but we were not beaten, and we could not run after a few scoldings. It was a rare experience for me, because I didn't have grandparents or grandparents to care about when I was young, and this was the only time I went to my relatives, and I still remember it vividly.
Now I think back to the buffalo I caught in the past and found its information from the Internet. The scientific name of the "buffalo" is Dorysthenes hydropicus, which belongs to the coleoptera, Acetae, subfamily Sawhoptera. Aliases: buffalo, earth-dwelling tengu, quya earthhon, etc., in China's distribution range is very wide. Appears on rainy days in the summer, dies after mating and laying eggs, and can live for three to four days on rainy days, generally no more than one day to die. The short adult period may be eaten by us predators before completing the mission, which is not easy.
This insect larvae generally occur in one generation a year, with old mature larvae overwintering, and the following spring old mature larvae dive into the soil to build a chamber to pupate, and the pupa chamber is about 5-6 cm from the ground. It will harm plant rhizomes in the soil, and the plants that are harmed are: fine-leaved knotweed grass, dog tooth root, bison grass and other lawn grasses, and also harm willow, maple poplar, Metasequoia and other forest trees. In mid-May, it begins to feather into adult insects, and remains in the soil after feathering, and after the rains in May and June, adult insects emerge in large numbers to lay eggs, laying eggs in wet soil or in places with more weeds in nurseries, and the larvae inhabit the soil.
Have you ever seen a buffalo? Ever eaten fried buffalo? Please let me know in the comments section.
(Picture from the network, infringement immediate deletion, thank you)