The efficacy and function of click beetles

Click beetle is a very common Chinese medicine in our daily life. It is also very important in our daily life. However, some people don’t know much about the efficacy and function of click beetle, so let us learn about it in detail below.

[Alias] Jumping worm (Supplement to Compendium of Materia Medica), jumping worm, diaphragm worm (Chinese Medical Dictionary), jumping rice worm, loach (Zoological Dictionary), jumping worm (Systematic Zoology).

[Source] It refers to the whole insect of the family Coleoptera , including the grooved click beetle .

[Original morphology] The body is slender and slightly flat, about 18 mm long, dark chestnut, shiny, and densely covered with short golden hairs. The head is flat with a triangular depression on the top and a pair of compound eyes. The antennae of males are 11-segmented and serrated; those of females are 12-segmented and linear, reaching the end of the elytra. There is a horn-like protrusion at the back of the prothorax, which is integrated with the mesothorax. There are two pairs of wings, with longitudinal grooves on the elytra, which gradually narrow to the end. There are three pairs of legs, which are yellowish brown and have 5 tarsal segments; the base of the fore and middle limbs is spherical, while the base of the hind limbs is flat and plate-like. The abdomen has 5 segments, each of which can move freely. The larvae are slender, round and long, slightly flat, with a horny, golden-yellow outer skin and hairy on both sides. If you press its back, the chest will move like knocking your head; if you put it on its back, the joints between the front chest and the middle chest will move and jump upward. The larvae mostly live underground, gnawing on the seeds, roots and stems of crops.

[Properties and flavors] "Quanzhou Materia Medica": "pungent, slightly warm, non-toxic."

【Functions and indications】 "Quanzhou Materia Medica": "Strengthen the body and strengthen the muscles and bones, and eliminate malaria. Treat malaria, muscle and bone pain, and limb paralysis."

[Additional prescription] ①To cure malaria: one click beetle. Apply the plaster between the eyebrows and cover it. (Bai Cao Mirror)

【Excerpt】 《*Dictionary》

【Source】From "Compendium of Materia Medica".

In general, the effect of click beetles is quite significant. Precisely because click beetles have relatively good health-preserving effects, it can be said that the application of click beetles in health preservation in daily life is also quite high.