Introduction to Lac and Lac Culture - Birsa Agricultural University

ENEMIES OF LAC INSECTS
Introduction to
Lac and Lac Culture
There are many natural enemies of lac insects which include vertebrates, invertebrates (insect
predators and parasites) and microbial flora.
Vertebrate enemies of lac insects
The important vertebrate enemies are squirrels and rats and the damage caused by those enemies
can be as serious as 50% of brood sticks in worst condition. 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.
Towards the crop maturity, these pests either gnaw the mature lac encrustation on the tree and
the brood lac tied to trees for inoculation and consume the full grown lac female insects with plenty
of eggs inside them. The damage to brood lac tied to trees interferes with the inoculation, as the
brood bundles and lac encrustations drop to the ground while the larval emergence is taking place.
Besides squirrels and rats, monkeys also cause some damage to lac encrustations and to the newly
developing shoots from pruned trees by breaking them.
Control
It is difficult to control the squirrels and rats under the open field conditions where lac is cultivated.
However scaring away of these animals or poisoning them may be adopted to keep the rodents
under attack.
Insect enemies of Lac insect
It has been estimated that on an average, up to 30-40% of the lac cells are destroyed by insect
enemies of lac crop. At times, the enemy attack can be so serious as to result in crop failures.
These are two kinds of enemy insects :
(1) 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
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