Salient features of Lac Insects:
- In lac insect, males & females are separate i.e. it shows sexual polymorphism. Male length is 1.2 – 1.5 mm and red in colour.
- They are small in comparison to female. Female has a soft body and oval in shape. Females are big and 5 mm in length.
- The body is indistinctly divided into head, thorax and abdomen. It is dark red in colour and does not have wings. Female lives in the resinous sac.
- Female gives 200 – 500 eggs in the resinous sac After 6-week first Instar larva comes out. It is called Nymph.
- They are active and accumulate at the small soft twig of a succulent tree. They secrets lac from their skin gland Nymph which gets dry when coming in the contact with air.
- Present on the skin takes sap as a nutrient from succulent plants. After 6 to 8 weeks due to metamorphosis nymph change into 70% wingless females and 30 % males with wings.
- In every year 2 times they complete their life cycle (Oct Nov and June – July). On nutritious plant.
Lac insect sucks sap using its appendages. Quality of Lac depends on the type of plants. Kusumic lac is the best lac which is obtained from Ber & Palas plant
