Mole Cricket lóu gū · 蝼蛄

Gryllotalpa (Gryllotalpa africana Beauvois and allied species)

Nature and flavour. Salty, cold; slightly toxic. Bladder, Large Intestine and Small Intestine systems.

The drug is the dried body of the mole cricket, an insect that burrows through wet soil. Traditional texts describe it as draining water and dispersing swelling, and as relieving strangury — the traditional term for difficult or dribbling urination. It is one of the few insect drugs used for urinary difficulty, and it is far less common in contemporary practice than the plant damp-draining herbs. The recorded traditional indications are not established by reliable human evidence.