Tu Bie Chong (Wingless Cockroach)

Chinese Herb Actions

Chinese Herb Dosage

• What is the typical dosage of Tu Bie Chong?

  Roughly 3–9 g in decoction, or 1–1.5 g when taken directly as a raw powder — the much smaller powder figure reflects that swallowing the powdered insect delivers far more of the material than a water decoction does. One standard reference gives 3–9 g decocted; another gives 3–10 g decocted, with the same 1–1.5 g for raw powder. These are reference ranges from published materia medica, not a prescription; this is a forceful herb and dosing belongs with a qualified practitioner.

  • Decoction: 3–9 g (one source 3–10 g).
  • Raw or powdered, taken directly: 1–1.5 g.
  • Which insects: the current Chinese Pharmacopoeia specifies the female adult. Comparative analysis found that larvae and female adults met the pharmacopoeial requirements for ash and extractives while male adults did not, and that female material had the stronger anticoagulant activity.

  Sources: dosage ranges as held on this site from published materia medica (Bensky; Chen); PMID 35851111, DOI 10.19540/j.cnki.cjcmm.20220315.102 (pharmacopoeial specification of female Eupolyphaga sinensis; male adults failed ash and extractive standards; weakest anticoagulant activity); PMID 39972042, DOI 10.1038/s41598-025-90100-5 (female material richer in the relevant constituents). Reference only — not a prescription.

Chinese Herb Contraindications & Cautions

• Are there cautions for Tu Bie Chong? Is it safe in pregnancy?

  It is contraindicated in pregnancy — this is the single most important caution on the herb, and it is not a soft one. Tu Bie Chong is a strong blood-breaking substance, and the whole class is traditionally withheld during pregnancy for that reason. Our records carry the contraindication plainly, and published materia medica agree.

  • Pregnancy: do not use. This applies to the herb itself and to formulas built around it, including the trauma and abdominal-mass formulas listed on this site.
  • Bleeding risk and anticoagulant therapy: the material carries measurable fibrinolytic and anticoagulant activity in laboratory work, so caution is reasonable in anyone with a bleeding tendency, active bleeding, or taking anticoagulant or antiplatelet medication. See the interactions section on this page.
  • Animal-derived: this is an insect product and is unsuitable for vegetarian and vegan patients, and for anyone avoiding animal materials on religious grounds. Insect proteins are also a recognised allergen class; anyone with known shellfish or insect allergy has an obvious reason for caution, as the chitinous exoskeleton is a shared structural feature.
  • Forceful herb, professional context: it belongs in prescriptions, not in self-treatment. Its traditional profile is salty and cold, which also makes it a poor fit for cold, deficient digestive presentations without warming support in the formula.

  Sources: pregnancy contraindication as held on this site, cross-referenced against published materia medica consensus and multiple online sources; PMID 22727120, DOI 10.1016/j.ibmb.2012.04.001 and PMID 17076234 (fibrinolytic and plasminogen-activating activity); PMID 40185435, DOI 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.142804 (chitin content of the material). Neutral reference facts; not medical advice.

Chinese Herb Toxicity & Overdose

• Is Tu Bie Chong toxic?

  It is classified in the traditional literature as slightly toxic, and our records list reported effects of sinus bradycardia, general weakness, nausea, dizziness and irritation of the digestive tract, with contact dermatitis possible from topical use. These are the reference cautions attached to the traditional classification rather than findings from controlled human study.

  Traditional classification and modern testing do not fully agree. A 2022 review of the material notes that, as an edible insect, its safety has been supported by acute toxicity testing and 30-day feeding trials in animals. That does not overturn the traditional “slightly toxic” designation — animal feeding studies address a different question from the pattern-specific cautions of the classical literature, and the traditional label also encodes the herb’s forcefulness rather than poisoning alone. We record both, and neither is a licence to exceed the reference dose ranges.

  Sources: toxicity notes as held on this site (traditional classification); PMID 35973633, DOI 10.1016/j.jep.2022.115642 (acute toxicity tests and 30-day feeding trials). Neutral reference facts.

• This herb is considered toxic.
  (while some Chinese herbs are toxic, it must be noted that many come prepared, or are combined, to mitigate their toxicity)

Herb-Drug Interactions

• Does Tu Bie Chong interact with medications?

  The plausible interaction is with blood thinners. Laboratory work has isolated fibrinolytic factors from this insect that act as plasminogen activators, and proteomic analysis identified more than a hundred serine proteases, several of which activate plasminogen. Comparative pharmacopoeial testing uses anticoagulant activity as a quality index for the material. Combining it with warfarin, direct oral anticoagulants, heparin or antiplatelet drugs is therefore something to raise with the prescribing clinician, as is use around planned surgery.

  No clinical interaction studies in people have been published, so this is a mechanistic caution rather than a documented event. It is stated here as reference information, not as advice to start or stop any medication.

  Sources: PMID 22727120, DOI 10.1016/j.ibmb.2012.04.001 (105 serine proteases identified; five activate plasminogen); PMID 17076234 (three fibrinolytic factors with plasminogen-activator activity); PMID 20931838, DOI 10.4268/cjcmm20101502 (fibrinolytic enzyme cloned and expressed); PMID 35851111, DOI 10.19540/j.cnki.cjcmm.20220315.102 (anticoagulant activity as a quality index). Reference only — not medical advice.

Western / Biomedical Research

Chinese Herb Clinical Studies & Research

Provided as research context — a summary of published biomedical study, not a therapeutic or medical claim.

• Is there modern research on Tu Bie Chong (Eupolyphaga sinensis)?

  Yes — the best-developed strand concerns clot breakdown, which maps onto the traditional blood-moving indication, and it is almost entirely laboratory and animal work. A comprehensive 2022 review catalogued the reported activities as anticoagulant and antithrombotic, anticancer, bone-repair, immunomodulatory, analgesic, antioxidant, lipid-lowering, antimicrobial and tissue-protective, while noting that the active constituents are still limited to proteins and peptides, fatty acids, polysaccharides and alkaloids.

  • Fibrinolysis and antithrombosis — three fibrinolytic factors of 41, 32.9 and 30.6 kDa were purified from female insects, all with plasminogen-activator activity. A later proteomic and transcriptomic study identified 105 serine proteases across four families, five of which activated plasminogen, and characterised a bifunctional protein with both direct fibrin-degrading and plasminogen-activating activity. A fibrinolytic enzyme complementary DNA has been cloned and expressed with retained activity. In a mouse thrombosis model, extracts reduced tail thrombosis rate, raised tissue plasminogen activator and prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time.
  • Bone and tissue repair — an oral extract improved fusion scores, bone volume fraction and trabecular parameters in a rabbit lumbar interbody fusion model, with histology showing vascular ingrowth and new bone formation at the cartilage endplate.
  • Antitumour work (cell and animal only) — an ethanol extract inhibited human chronic myeloid leukaemia K562 cell proliferation with G2-M arrest and reduced growth of implanted murine sarcoma; a purified polysaccharide inhibited liver cancer cells by activating lymphocytes, chiefly natural killer cells, and restrained tumour growth in mice. Neither line has been tested clinically.
  • Formula-level research — Xia Yu Xue Tang, in which this insect is one of three ingredients, has been studied for chronic liver disease and liver cancer in animal models, with mechanisms attributed to gut microbiota and bile-acid regulation.
  • Material science — the moults and life stages have been studied as a chitin and chitosan source, which is incidental to medicinal use but useful for understanding what the material is made of.

  Sources: PMID 35973633, DOI 10.1016/j.jep.2022.115642; PMID 17076234; PMID 22727120, DOI 10.1016/j.ibmb.2012.04.001; PMID 20931838, DOI 10.4268/cjcmm20101502; PMID 39972042, DOI 10.1038/s41598-025-90100-5; PMID 40949778, PMC 12425786, DOI 10.3389/fsurg.2025.1652156; PMID 24814261, DOI 10.1016/j.etap.2014.04.010; PMID 32553956, DOI 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2020.06.120; PMID 41797191, DOI 10.1016/j.phymed.2026.158023; PMID 40185435, DOI 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.142804. Research context, not a therapeutic claim — cell-culture and animal findings do not establish benefit in people.

Chinese Herb Notes

• What exactly is Tu Bie Chong, and which formulas use it?

  It is the dried body of a wingless female cockroach-family insect, Eupolyphaga sinensis Walker — the female is flightless, which is where the English name comes from. Related species in the same pharmacopoeial article include Steleophaga plancyi. The literal Chinese name reads roughly as “earth turtle insect”, from the flattened, shield-like shape of the female’s back, which is why the older translation “land soft-shelled turtle” still appears — it is a description of the shape, not of the animal.

  Formulas on this site that contain it:

  • Da Huang Zhe Chong Wan (Rhubarb and Eupolyphaga Pill) — the classical formula for long-standing internal stasis with dry, scaly skin and abdominal masses, where it works alongside Shui Zhi, Meng Chong, Qi Cao, Tao Ren and Da Huang.
  • Die Da Wan (Trauma Pill) — the injury formula, where it sits with Ru Xiang, Mo Yao, Xue Jie and Zi Ran Tong for fracture and soft-tissue trauma.

  The same insect is one of only three ingredients in the classical Xia Yu Xue Tang, alongside peach kernel and rhubarb, and modern reviews record that 34 proprietary preparations containing it are listed in the current Chinese Pharmacopoeia, used for traumatic injury, low back pain, masses and nodules, cervical spine disorders and osteoarthritis.

  An identity flag in our own records, reported rather than rewritten. The pharmaceutical Latin held here reads “Eupolyphaga Seu Opistholpatia”. The genus in question is spelled Opisthoplatia, and the current pharmacopoeial article for this material is titled Eupolyphaga Steleophaga. We have not altered the identity field; it is flagged for the site editor. Note also that this entry’s traditional profile lists the herb as toxic while its safety flag is not set — part of a wider inconsistency already logged across our records.

  Sources: PMID 35851111, DOI 10.19540/j.cnki.cjcmm.20220315.102 (pharmacopoeial article and source species); PMID 35973633, DOI 10.1016/j.jep.2022.115642 (Tubiechong comprises mainly Eupolyphaga and Steleophaga; 34 proprietary medicines in the current pharmacopoeia and their indications); PMID 41797191, DOI 10.1016/j.phymed.2026.158023 (Xia Yu Xue Tang composition, from the Jin Gui Yao Lue); formula composition records held on this site; naming cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

This herb is considered toxic