Meriones meridianus (Pallas)

The scientific name Meriones Meridianus (Pallas) belongs to the order Rodentia and family Cricetidae. Also known as Yellow Mouse, Noon Gerbil, and Noon Gerbil. Distributed in central Inner Mongolia and Zhangjiakou, Hebei to the west in provinces and regions such as Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Shanxi, Qinghai, and Xinjiang.

Host vegetables, weeds and forage, and food crops.

The main characteristics of damage include damaging plant seeds and their nutrients, stealing grain in autumn, and accelerating soil erosion in caves on the Loess Plateau.

Morphological features: The body length is 100-150mm, the tail length is close to the body length, and the earshell protrudes significantly beyond the hair, reaching the eyes when folded forward. The back hair is light brown yellow to sandy yellow, with a dark gray base, a sandy yellow middle section, and black tips. Pure white abdominal hair; The tail hair is brownish yellow or brown, and some have slightly light or mixed white hair below the tail. The tail end has a bundle of hair. The base of the claw is light brown, and the tip is white. The ear spores are well-developed, and there is a longitudinal groove in front of the upper door teeth.

Meridian gerbils mainly inhabit desert or semi desert areas, and are sometimes found in non zonal sandy and agricultural areas. In Inner Mongolia, the typical habitat of Meridian gerbils is sand dunes and sandy areas with shrubs and semi shrubs. The cave system of Meridian gerbils can be divided into overwintering caves, summer caves, and complex caves. The diameter of the opening is 3-6cm, with 1-3 openings, sometimes 4-5, often located under shrubs and grass roots. The tunnel is curved and has multiple branches, with a total length of 2-3m and a depth of 30-40cm. Some branches form blind ends near the surface for emergency use. The winter cave passage is deep, and the nest depth is below 2 meters. Female mice often block the entrance of the cave during pregnancy and lactation. At noon, gerbils do not hibernate and prefer to move around at night, with a peak activity at midnight. Eating habits are mixed. In Inner Mongolia, reproduction begins in April, with a long reproductive period of over 7 months. It reproduces 2-3 times a year, with a low pregnancy rate. In late June, the pregnancy rate was 33.3%, and it decreased month by month. Each litter has 2-11 offspring, mostly 4-6. Meridian gerbils increase by about 10 times from spring to autumn, with a mortality rate of around 90%. In nature, less than 1% live to one year.

The prevention and control method is that the Meridian Gerbil prefers to eat seeds and loves to search for seeds scattered on the ground, so using poison bait method has the best effect on rodent control. For specific methods, please refer to the Black Line Apodemus Prevention and Control Law. In sparsely populated desert areas, aerial seeding can also be used, with a height of 50m and an interval of 70m. Two strips can be sprinkled along both sides, resulting in better extinguishing effects.