The document presents an extensive overview of lac culture, discussing the biology of lac insects, the significance of lac production in India, and the practices involved in lac cultivation, including inoculation, pruning, and harvesting. It highlights the economic importance of lac and its various uses, as well as the challenges posed by pests and parasites. The text emphasizes the sustainability of lac farming and the methods for processing raw lac into finished products.

1. WEL COME

2. LAC CULTURE

3. Introduction
Importance and Biology of lac insects
Inoculation and coupe system
Lac crops
Host trees and pruning
Enemies of lac and its uses
C
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4. INTRODUCTION
• The term “Lac” derived from the Sanskrit word “Laksha” meaning a hundred thousand and
is suggestive of the large number of insects involved in its production.
• The description of the insect and its host plant (Food plant) – Palas (Lakshataru) is recorded
in the Atharva Veda.
• It is mentioned in the Mahabharata mentioned lakhagriha or Jadugriha (Lac house) which
the Kauravas had got construct to burn alive the Pandavas by setting the lac palace on fire.

5.  Rearing of lac insects for commercial production of the lac is called as lac culture.
 Lac is produced by an insect Laccifer lacca.
 The first scientific account of the lac insect was given by J. Kerr in 1782
Classification of Lac insect
Phylum – Arthropoda
Class – Insecta
Order – Hemiptera
Family – Kerriidae
Genus – Kerria
Species – lacca

6. Why Lac Cultivation ?
• A good source of livelihood resource for poor farmers. Avoids migration of rural
population to urban areas.
• Assured source of income during drought years.
• Require meager inputs (like water, pesticides etc.)
• Most suitably grown on marginal and degraded land.
• No competition with other horticultural, agricultural crops for land and farm operation.
• Do not harm host tree health neither other flora and fauna.

7. • India is highest lac producing country in world near about 65% of total lac production seen in
India.
• Economic Importance of lac culture:
1. Lac is used in preparing a Bangles.
2. Lac is used in preparation of toys.
3. Lac is used in the preparation of inks and polishes.
4. Lac is used in wood work and for making ornamental things.
5. Lac is used in process of silvering the back of mirror.
6. Government of India has started research work in 1921 and established Indian Lac
Research Institute at Ranchi in Bihar in 1925 (Indian Institute of Natural Resins and
Gums).

8. • India is still being regarded as the principal lac producing country of the world.
• Lac currently produced in India, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and China.
• India produces about 65% of the world’s total output. Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh account
for 40% of India’s total production of lac.

9. Lac, Plant Resins and Gums Statistics 2014: A

10. Lac, Plant Resins and Gums Statistics 2014: A

11. Biology
• Laccifer lacca, Female insect is viviparous, producing about 1000 nymphs, deep red in
colour with black eyes, soft bodied, 0.6mm long, 3 pairs of leg and a pair of antennae.
• The larvae settle down on a suitable place of the host plant. A day or two after settlement, the
larvae start secreting lac all around the body except on the rostrum, spiracles and on the tip of
abdomen.
• Thus it gets encased in a cell of lac which gradually increases in size along with the increase
in size of the insect.

12. • The female nymph never regain appendages and continue to remain under the lac cell,
become adults and reproduce.
• As the lac insects remain close together, lac secretion from adjacent cells coalesces with
each other and forms a continuous encrustation on the tree branch.
• Males walk over the lac encrustation, fertilize the females present inside cell through anal
tubercular opening
• Female after maturity grow very fast, secrets lack abundantly. Size of the female cell is several
times larger than male cell.

13. Sameeksha. S, 2016
Female insect Male insect
Male and Female cells

14. HOST PLANTS
1. Palas - Butea monosperma
2. Ber - Zizyphus jujuba
3. Kusum - Schleichera oleosa
4. Khair - Acacia catechu
5. Ghont - Zizyphus xylopyra
6. Jallari - Shorea talura
7. Arhar - Cajanus cajan
8. Grewia - Grewia spp.
9. Babul - Acacia Arabica etc.,

15. Palas Kusam Ber

16. Flemingia semialata (Lac host plant)

17. • There are two distinct strains of lac insect India called Kusumi and rangeeni. The kusumi
strain is raised mainly kusum tree and the rangeeni on all other hosts such as palas, ber, ghont,
arhar etc.,
• Each of the strains produce two crops in a year thus there are four crops.
Dhaliwal et al., 2012

18. Pruning Operation
o Pruning means cutting away old, weak and disease branches to inducing the tree to produce
maximum number of shoots for successful colonization by the lac insect.
o Pruning should always be carried out lightly and branches more than 2.5 cm in diameter should
not be cut.
o Branches between 1.25 cm to 2.5 cm in diameter are cut, so as to leave behind a stalk of
about 30-45 cm in length.

19. Types of pruning in lac host plant
1. Light pruning
• Light pruning is recommended for slow growing conventional host tree species like palas,
kusum and ber.
• Diseased and dead portion of branches should be removed completely
2. Basal/heavy pruning
• In quick growing bushy host, pruning should be done at a height of 10-15 cm from the
ground level
Eg: F. semialata, F. macrophylla,.

20. • Kusum (Schleichera oleosa) : Either in January / February or in June / July.
• Khair (Acacia catechu) : Done in March. However, harvesting of lac crop during February may
be used to serve as pruning also.
• Ber (Zizyphus mauritiana) or Palas (Butea monosperma) : Done in February for inoculation in
July and in April / May for inoculation in October-November.
• Ficus spp. : Pruning is to be done in April for inoculation in July and in May for inoculation in
October.

21. Pruning instruments
• Pruning is dine with axe.
• The ideal pruning instruments are secateurs. There are two types of secateurs. These are Roll
cut secateur and the French secateurs.
• Pruning is also done with pruning knife and Dauli.
• The use of pruning shear and pruning saw fitted in long handle makes the operation easier as
the pruning is done directly by standing on ground and climbing is avoided.
• During pruning damaged caused to plant by careless handling of this instruments.

22. Axe
Secateurs
Knife Shear

23. LAC CULTIVATION
• Lac culture involves three important steps: (i) Inoculation,
(ii) Swarming
(iii) Harvesting.

24. Inoculation of host trees :-
The method by which the lac insects are introduced to the new lac host plant is known as
inoculation.
1. Natural inoculation:
• When infection from one plant to other occurs by natural movements of insect, it is called
natural inoculation.
• This may be due to overcrowding of insect population and non availability of tender shoots
on a particular tree.

25. Collection of brood lac :-
• Lac sticks, having mature female insects ready to give rise to the next generation are called
Brood lac.
• Prior to about two weeks of hatching, lac bearing sticks are cut to the size of six inches called
Brood lac.
• Selection of brood lac healthy lac with the minimum signs of predator and parasite damage is
selected for use as brood lac.

26. 2. Artificial infection
• Brood lacs are then kept for about two weeks in some cool place, when the larvae start
emerging from this brood lac, they are supposed to be ready for inoculation.

27. INOCULATION PERIOD IN DIFFERENT LAC CROPS

28. COUPE SYSTEM: (A SUSTAINED YIELD BASIS OF LAC CULTIVATION)
• Developed for lac production on sustained yield basis. If the same tree is continuously
inoculated, its vitality suffers and the yield of crop progressively diminishes.
• In Rangeeni farms, two coupe system, two coupes having six (6) months rest is adopted for
raising. Baisakhi-cum-Katki crops in alternate seasons.
• The trees are inoculated in the month of Oct.-Nov. Harvesting is done after a year, after
allowing self-inoculation in June-July by partial harvesting.

29. • In the Kusumi farms, Kusum (Schleichera oleosa) is the major lac host plant species of Kusumi
stain of lac insect. Five coupe system with equal number of trees in each coupe having 18
months rest in between pruning and inoculation is adopted.
Chattopadhyay, 2011

30. Crops of lac

31. Crop Wise lac Production
Regarding share of different crops,
• Katki-33.39% (rainy season crop of Rangeeni) contributed the most in national lac production
followed respectively by Baisakhi 27.35% (summer season crop of rangeeni), jethwhi 19.50%
(summer season crop of kusmi) and aghani19.42% (winter season crop of kusmi)

32. SWARMING
• At the time of swarming , insect muscle contrast and insect get detached from the place of
attachment and when the eggs are be hatched out they become orange coloured.
• thus, the change in colour is an indication that swarming has taken place.

33. Harvesting
• Ari Lac: If lac crops are harvested little before the larval emergence (immature lac).
• Phunki Lac: After the emergence is over, that is called Phunki Lac (empty lac).
• Immature harvesting which would affect the population of lac insects and ultimately result
in great economic loss to the cultivators. Hence , immature harvesting should be
discouraged.

34. MANUFACTURE OF SHELLAC INVOLVED THREE STEPS
1) Production of crushed lac
• Remove lac encrustation from the branches either by twisting them or scrapping by knife
• Scrapped material is called as raw lac or stick lac (Crude lac).
• Powder the stick lac powdered lac is called crushed lac.

35. 2) Production of seed lac or grain lac (Chowri)
• Keep the crushed lac immersed in water in cement tubs for 3 days stir the contents
• Drain off the supernatant coloured liquid
• Transfer the material that settle at the bottom to large vats
• Add water and lime at 1kg/160 kg of vat
• Collect the lac dye which settles down
• Remove the bits of twigs, fibrous material and parts of insects body that floats in vat.

36. METHODS OF LAC PROCESSING
• Seedlac is often the base material which is further processed
• The processing results into a finished product which is known as Shellac
1. Hand made Process
2. Mechanized Heat Process
3. Solvent Processes

37. HAND MADE PROCESS
• Traditionally method
• The seed lac is filled into a long sausage shaped cloth bag of about 2 inch diameter and 30 feet
long
• The cloth bag is filled with approximately 40 Kgs of Seed lac
• The long bag made up of markin cloth is passed gradually in front of a charcoal-fired hearth
hot enough to melt the lac.
• By twisting the bag, molten lac is squeezed out through cloth.

38. •Due to hot melting and squeezing, lac resin is forced out through the pores of the bag;
leaving behind impurities such as insect bodies or twigs
•The residue left inside cloth bag is known as Kiri lac.

39. MECHANIZED HEAT PROCESS
• In this process of manufacturing of shellac, the seed lac is melted by steam heat.
• The molten soft lac is squeezed through filter by means of hydraulic pressure.
• The filtered molten lac is drawn into long and continuous sheets with help of roller.
• The sheet is then broken into pieces called flakes.

40. Mechanized Heat Processing of lac

41. SOLVENT PROCESSES
• Solvent process is used to purify the semi refined lac, dewaxed and decolorized shellac can be
obtained as end product.
• Seed lac is dissolved in a refrigerated alcohol and filter through filter press to remove wax and
impurities.
• The colour may be removed by treating with the activated carbon.
• The molten shellac is stretched with a roller.

42. Mechanized Heat Process
Solvent Processes

43. Seed lac Shellac
Button lac Garnet lac

44. Button lac
• Pour the molten lac into dies made of zinc sheet, instead of stretching
• Cool it which will result in very hard buttons of lac
Other by products:
• Molemma : Finely divided dust like material separated from seed lac. Contains 70% shellac.
• Kiri: The dirt and left over material in the cloth bag after recovering molted lac. Containing
50% shellac.
• Passewa: it is material that is collected from the cloth bag by boiling them after removing kiri.
Button lac

45. • Garnet lac : It is prepared form inferior seed lac or kiri by the solvent extraction process. It is
dark in colour and comparatively free from wax.
• Bleached lac : It is a refined product obtained by chemical treatment. It is prepared by
dissolving shellac or seed lac in Sodium carbonate solution, bleaching the solution with
Sodium hypochlorite and precipitating the resin with sulphuric acid. Bleached lac
deteriorates quickly and should be used within 2-3 months of manufacture.
• Lac resin : It is an ester complex of long chain hydroxy fatty acids and sesquiterpenic acid.
• Lac dye : It is an anthraquinone derivative.
• Lac wax : It is the mixture of higher alcohol, esters, acids and hydrocarbons.

46. Vertebrate enemies of lac insects
• Squirrels and rats and the damage caused up to 50% of brood sticks.
• Squirrels are active during the day time and the damage by them is more common under forest
condition. Rats are active at night time and the damage usually occurs near about the villages.
Control
• It is difficult to control the squirrels and rats under the open field conditions.
• However scaring away of these animals or poisoning them may be adopted to keep the rodents
under attack.

47. (I) Parasites & (II) Predators
• (i) Parasites : All parasites causing damage to lac insect belong to the Order Hymenoptera of
class Insecta. A list of parasites associated with lac insect Kerria lacca) is presented below :
Sl.No. Name of the parasite Family
1. Anicetus dodonia Encyrtidae
2. Atropates hautefeuilli Encyrtidae
3. Aphrastobracon flavipennis Encyrtidae
4. Bracon greeni Encyrtidae
5. Campyloneurus indicus Encyrtidae
6. Coccophaqus tchirchii Aphelinidae

48. 7. Erencyrtus dewitzi Encyrtidae
8. Eupelmus tachardiae Eupelmidae
9. Eurymyiocnema aphelinoides Aphelinidae
10. Lyka lacca Encyrtidae
11. Marietta javensis Aphelinidae
12. Parageniaspis indicus Encyrtidae
13. Parechthrodryinus clavicornis Encyrtidae
14. Protyndarichus submettalicus Encyrtidae
15. Tachardiaephagus tachardiae Encyrtidae
16. Teachardiobius nigricans Encyrtidae
17. Aprostocetus(Tetrastichus) purpureus Eulophidae
• Among the parasites listed above Tachardiaephagus tachardiae and Tetrastichus purpureus
are the most abundant lac associated parasites. They lay their eggs in the lac cells and the grubs
(larvae) hatching out feed on the lac insect within its cell.

49. Tachardiaephagus tachardiae

50. (II) Predators :
The predators on the other hand, are more serious and may cause damage up to 30-35 percent to
the cells in a crop.
• The list of predators of lac insects are given below:
Sl. No. Insect Predator Order Family
1. Eublemma amabilis Lepidoptera Noctuidae
2. E. coccidiphaga Lepidoptera Noctuidae,
3. E. cretacea Lepidoptera Noctuidae
4. Eublemma. scitula Lepidoptera Noctuidae
5. Pseudohypatopa pulverea Lepidoptera Blastobasidae
6. Catablemma sumbavensis Lepidoptera Blastobasidae
7. Cryptoblabes ephestialis Lepidoptera Blastobasidae

51. 8. Phroderces falcatella ,, Cosmopterygidae
9. Lacciferophaga yunnanea ,, Momphidae
10. Chrysopa madestes Neuroptera Chrysopidae
11. C. lacciperda ,, ,,
12. Berginus maindroni Coleoptera Mycetophagidae
13. Silvanus iyeri ,, Cucujidae
14. Tribolium ferrugineum ,, Tenebrionidae
15. Phyllodromia humbertiana Dictyoptera Blattellidae
16. Ischonoptera fulvastrata ,, ,,

52. Eublemma amabilis

53. Eublemma amabilis and Pseudohypatopa pulverea are the most destructive key pests of lac
insects .
(i) Eublemma amabilis :
It is the most destructive predator of lac insect and causes most damage during katki and aghani
lac crops i.e. during the rainy season in comparison to the other two crops.
Life history :
• A single female moth lays greyish.
• Flat and rounded eggs singly on the test of lac insect.
• The newly hatched larvae, 0.51 to 0.54 mm long.

54. • Get at the lac insect either through the opening of the test or by tunneling a hole through
encrustation.
• A single larva can destroy 40-60 lac insect cells in its whole larval period.
• It has six generations in a year and the duration of the generations are about 37, 45,42, 125, 80
and 40 days respectively.
• Attacked lac cells can easily be identified because of its pinkish coloration due to presence of
pink coloured discs of excreta inside the hollow lac cells.

55. (ii) Pseudohypatopa pulverea :
It feeds on the live and dead lac insects and is found in large numbers in stored lac and so it is
responsible for the qualitative and quantitative deterioration of stored lac.
Life history
• It lays oval (0.5 mm X 0.3 mm), colour less eggs, singly on the test of lac insects.
• Larvae pass normally through 5 instars but the hibernating larvae have nine instars.
• The newly hatched larva is about 1.35 mm long whereas a mature larva is 10 - 12 mm in length
and 2 mm in breadth.
• Larval stages feed on the lac larvae and spins a loose web. A single larval predator is capable of
destroying 45-60 mature lac cells.

56. MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
Preventive measures
o Parasite and predator free brood lac should be used for inoculation
o Self inoculation of lac crops should be avoided as far as possible
o Inoculated brood bundles should be kept on the host tree for a minimum period only.
o Phunki should be removed from the inoculated trees in 2 – 3 weeks time.
o Cultivation of Kusumi strain of lac should be avoided in predominantly rangeeni area and vice
versa.

57. Mechanical control
o Use of 60 mesh synthetic netting (brood bag) to enclose brood lac for inoculation purposes
can reduce infestation of enemy insects of lac.
o The emerging lac larvae easily crawl out from the minute pores of the net and settle on the
twigs of the lac host plants, whereas the emerging adult predator enemies can not move out of
the brood bags and get entrapped within the net.
o This can check the egg laying by the predator moths on the new crop.

58. Biological control
• Egg parasitoids viz. Trichogramma achaeae, T. exiguum and T. ostrniae are able to suppress
the Eublemma amabilis
• The reduction in the population of E. amabilis up to 77-86 per cent in case of rangeeni crop and
up to 52-72 per cent in kusum crop at the dose of 20 egg parasitoid per bush .
Bhattacharya et al., 2014.

59. Chemical management
• Lambdacyhalothrin, ethofenprox, DDVP, carbosulfan, indoxacarb, spinosad, fipronil, and
alphamethrin shall be incorporated in IPM programs for the effective management of predators
of lac insect without adversely affecting the lac insect.
Tech. Bull FBTI 2011.

60. E amabilis P pulverea
Insecticide Conc
(%)
No/m encrustation No/m encrustation
Single
spray
Two
sprays
Three
sprays
Single
spray
Two sprays Three
sprays
Bt 0.034 26 15 11.5 31 19 15
0.051 26.5 13 6.5 26 11.5 8.0
0.068 26 9.0 6.5 27.5 9.0 8.0
0.085 27 13 6.5 24 10 8.5
Endosulfan 0.050 25.5 10 7.5 25.5 12 8.0
Ethofenprox 0.020 29 11 7.5 27 11.5 8.5
DDVP 0.030 27 12.5 6.5 26 12 7.5
Control Water 29 29 29 31 31 31
Jaiswal et al., 2008
Evaluation of Bacillus thuringiensis against lepidopteran pests in lac culture

61. INFLUENCE OF CULTIVATION METHODS ON WEIGHT (MG/CELL)
OF RESIN PRODUCED BY FEMALE OF Kerria lacca (KERR)
Mohanta et al., 2012.

62. The important properties of lac are as follows :
(i) Soluble in alcohol and weak alkalis
(ii) Capacity of forming uniform durable film.
(iii) Possess high scratch hardness
(iv) Resistance to water
(v) Good adhesive nature
(vi) Ability to form good sealers.
(vii) Capacity to allow quick rubbing with sandpaper without slicking or gumming.
No other single resin, both natural or synthetic, possess so many desirable properties and so lac
is also termed as multipurpose resin.

63. • The building blocks of lac are mainly hydroxyaliphatic and sequiterpenic acids which are
present in the proportion of 50:50. The basic blocks are however aleuritic and jalaric acids. The
former is 9, 10, 16 – trihydroxy palmitic acid and the later adihydroxymonocarboxylic
sesquiterpenic acid having an aldehyde function.
• Composition of stick lac
Lac resin - 68%
Lac wax - 6%
Lac dye - 1%
Others - 25%

64. USES
• Because of its unique combination of properties, lac finds a wide variety of application in paint,
electrical, automobile, cosmetic, leather, wood finishing and other industries.
• Earlier about half of the total output was consumed in gramophone industry.
• Lac has long been in use both for decorative and insulating varnishes.
• It is usually used as a first coating on wood to fill the pores.

65. • Lac is used in manufacture of glazed paper, printing and water proofing inks, lac bangles,
dental plates and optical frames.
• It is also used for finishing various products such as playing cards, oil cloth and for preserving
archeological and zoological specimen.
• In electrical industry, lac is used as coating of insulator, coating of spark plugs, cement of
sockets of electrical lamp, anti-tracking insulating etc.
• In Pharmaceutical industry, lac is used in coating of tablets, micro-encapsulation of vitamins
and coating of medicines.
• Lac dye is used in dying of wool and silk, soft drink formulation, pill coating, confectionary and
chocolate coating.

66. • Lac wax has wide variety of uses in manufacturing shoe polishes, tailor’s chalk, lipstick,
crayons (for writing in glass). Now a days it is also used Lac dye (Erythrolaccin) has been
used in India as a skin cosmetic and dye for wool and silk.
• Bleached lac has specialised demand for coating medicinal tablets, confectioneries etc.