Witnessed by: TCM

Ground beetle (Eupolyphaga sinensis), of the Corydiidae (Insecta, Blattodea) family. A flattened ground-dwelling cockroach of dark damp places; the drug is the wingless adult female, the winged male not used; native range: dark damp ground across China — under stones, in old walls, in granary and stable floors; now widely farmed for the drug. Globally recognized as tu bie chong (土鱉蟲), zhe chong (䗪蟲) in Chinese, and ground beetle, wingless cockroach in English. The part used is the whole dried female. A flat oval brown-black shield, thin as a coin and finely ridged in overlapping plates, brittle when dried; the smell rank and slightly fishy, the taste salty.

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