AEN 202 - LAC CULTURE.pptx

Lac culture

1. AEN 202 - MANAGEMENT OF BENEFICIAL AND HARMFUL INSECTS - (2+1) LAC CULTURE History, meaning, types and Uses N Bhuvanesh Nagamani 2021004014 II Year – IV Semester ADAC & RI, Trichy-27. Dr. A. Kalyanasundharam., Prof. (Agrl. Entomology) Dr. V. Ambethgar., Prof & Head (Agrl. Entomology) Prepared by, Course Teachers

2. Introduction Scientific method of controlling lac insects to obtain a large quantity of high-quality lac Lac - natural resinous secreted by insects called lac insects . Lac – Sanskrit word ‘’ Laksha ’’ meaning a hundred thousand (Ogle, 2006) and is suggestive of the large number of insects involved in its production Lac culture - scientific management and rearing of lac insects for high-quality lac to be used for commercial purposes Management involves:- Selection of host plants Inoculation of plants with lac insects, Rearing of lac insects, Pest management Harvesting and processing of lac.

3. Indians have been using lac for ages The epic Mahabharata mentions the detail of the famous ‘ Lakshagruha ’, a house built of lac, which was built to burn the Pandavas So, one can assume that Indians know the inflammable nature of lac and its other uses too Other than this, Indians have been using lac for making toys and ornaments Evidence also suggests the use of Lac by ancient Romans and Greek people The scientific study of lac was started by Father Tachard in 1709 . The name Laccifer lacca was finalized after many changes. Description of lac insect and its host plant - Butea monosperma (Lakshataru) – Sanskrit Literature History of Lac culture

4. The first account on lac insect is given by J.Kerr in 1782 The lac insect is classified as follows: Kingdom : Animalia Phylum i : Arthropoda (Jointed foot, bilateral symmetry) Class : Insecta (Hexapod invertebrates) Order i : Hemiptera (Truebugs with Piercing sucking mouth parts) Suborder i : Homoptera (Wings uniform in structure) Superfamily i : Coccoidea ( scale insects and mealy bugs) Family i : Kerriidae (scale insects known for lac ) Genus i : Laccifer Species i : lacca So, the binomial name of lac insects is Laccifer lacca (Syn. Kerria lacca, Tachardia lacca ) Taxonomy of Lac insect

5. Host plants of Lac insect Lac insects are ectoparasites that feed by sucking on the plant sap from tender shoots of specific host plants Vernacular Name Botanical Name Kusum Schleichera trijuga/oleosa Palas Butea frondosa or Butea monosperma Ber (Plum) Zizyphus jujuba Babul Acacia arabica Khair (Ranjeeni) Acacia catechu Arhar Cajanus indicus

6. Life cycle of Lac insect

7. 1. Fertilisation: male walks over female incrustations → inserts itself into the female cells → fertilizes 2. Egg-laying: female grows rapidly → till capable of egg-laying → single female → average of 200 to 500 eggs → deposits inside the incubating chambers of the female cell. 3. Egg Hatching: After 6 weeks → eggs hatched into first instar larvae. The mass movement of these larvae in search of a suitable place to suck plant sap is called swarming . 4. Pupa: larva is a sluggish and continuous feeder . It encases itself and the twig by secreting a resinous secretion from the body. The secretion hardens upon contact with air and is called a lac cell. Inside the lac cell, the larva undergoes three moultings . During moulting, male and females lose some body parts. 5. Adults: Male larvae → male adult insects – No mouthparts, do not feed. One adult male insect can fertilize several females, and soon after fertilization, it dies. Female → smaller in size than male – No legs and wings - never move out of the cell once they settle down after swarming.

8. NYMPH Colour- Crimson Red Size- 0.5mm Shape- Boat shaped Referred as “Crawlers” ADULT- MALE Colour- Red Size- 1.2-1.5mm Eyes- Reduced Mouth part- Absent Wings- 1 pair of hyaline wing ADULT- FEMALE Shape- Pyriform body Size- 4-5mm Antennae- Degenerated Eyes- Absent Mouth part- Piercing & sucking Posterior to mouth lie a pair of spiracles Wings- Absent Legs- Degenerated Biology of Lac insect

9. Lac is the only known commercial resin of animal origin . It is a resinous material secreted by the lac insects. Special glands called lac glands are present in the skin of the larvae and the female adults (male also produce but not much). Lac is a mixture of several substances , but resin is the main constituent . It is thought to be a polyester of a straight chain of complex fatty acids containing 14 to 18 carbon atoms. The approximate percentage of different constituents of lac is:- Lac secretion and composition Resin 68 to 90%, Dye 2 to 10%, Wax 5 to 6%, Mineral matter 3 to 7%, Albuminous matter 5 to 10% and Water 2 to 3% Sugar, proteins, soluble salts, debris of lac insect and some woody material.

10. Culture Technique of Lac insect The culture technique of lac insect involves the following steps: 1. Inoculation: - Introduction of lac insects to the host plant naturally human or artificial . 2. Cultivation of host plants: since the larvae of lac insects suck the plant sap from the tender shoots of host plants, proper cultivation and pruning - important in lac culture. 3. Lac Crop: the life cycle of lac insects of 6 months and hence two crops in a year are regular. There can be four lac crops as lac insects behave differently on Kusum and non-Kusum host plants . 4. Harvesting and Extraction of Lac: The twigs with thick encrustations are cut and removed from the site. This is stick lac . Then the lac cells are scraped from the twig , and the lac is the granular lac . Cutting & scraping - before swarming , it is ‘Ari lac’, if after swarming , it is ‘Phunki lac’ .
The scraped lac is washed thoroughly with water . Drying and bleaching of lac are done by exposing it to sunlight . Lac granules are melted in a pot over an open charcoal fire . The molten lac is then spread in the form of sheets . The sheets are dried, broken into pieces and sold in the market as flakes .

11. Types of Lac

12. It involves three steps i) Production of crushed lac ii) Production of seed lac or grain lac Manufacture of Shellac Remove lac encrustations from the branches either by twisting them or scrapping by knife Scrapped material is called as raw lac or scrapped lac or stick lac Powder the stick lac (powder lac is called crushed lac) 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 insect body that floats in the vat

13. Pour the molten lac into dies made of zinc sheet-instead of stretching Cool in which will result in very hard buttons of lac iii) Production of shellac – Hot melting method Button Lac Mix grain lac with arsenic sulphide to colour the lac (yellow orpiment) Put the blended material in a cloth bag of 9m long and 0.6m diameter and heat over an open fire rotating the bag continuously Lac melts and oozes out of the bag and sticks to outer surface Twist the bag, when sufficient quantity of molten lac is collected outside the bag Coat the lac coming out of the bag uniformly over a cylindrical container containing hot water and cool it Remove the sheet, again heat and stretch by hand into a size of a metre square Break up this sheet into flakes Shellac is orange to pale yellow in colour

14. Enemies of Lac Insect 1. Parasitoids

15. 2. Hyperparasitoids

16. 3. Predators

17. Uses of Lac Toys, Bracelets or bangles, For filling the ornament, Sealing wax, Gramophone records, Making the grinding stones, For manufacturing varnishes and paints, For silvering the back of a mirror, For encasing cable wires (due to insulating property of lac) etc. During the washing of scraped lac, a dye is left behind in the water which is then used for dying. Nail polish, lithographic ink, shoe polish etc.

18. 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. Contains 50 % shellac Passewa: It is the material that is collected from the cloth bag by boiling them after removing kiri.

19. Globally lac is produced in many countries like India, Thailand, Myanmar, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Laos . India and Thailand are the major producers , producing an average of 1700 tonnes annually, followed by China . Until 1950 , India held the monopoly in lac production, accounting for almost 85% of the global production . In a later period, Thailand became one of the major competitors Now India’s contribution to global lac production is about 70% . Roughly 200 million rupees is the net export of lac from India 3−4 million people , including tribals, are engaged in lac culture in India In India, Jharkand is the highest producer of lac Other states like Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Assam and Odisha also produce lac. Some pockets of lac cultivation also exist in Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Mirzapur and Sonebhdra districts of Uttar Pradesh Position of India in Lac culture

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