Tracing the insect that adds colour to life

Entomologists from across several national institutions of the country are engaged in the conservation of a flightless insect species that adds colour to life, the Lac insect.

Resin, dye, and wax produced by the insect is used as for giving colour to wool, silk, wine, Ayurvedic medicinal preparations, wood finish and cosmetics, say entomologists

The rapid changes in the agricultural patterns are posing serious threat to the insects. Alarmed by the “speed at which uncharacterised breeds are disappearing in some regions where climatic, parasitic or disease pressures could have produced important genetically adapted breeds,” the Indian Institute of Natural Resins and Gums, Ranchi, launched an all India Research Programme on Conservation of Lac Insect Genetic Resources.

The project, which tries to rediscover lac populations so as to conserve them, has witnessed as many as eight institutions including the agricultural universities of Assam, Punjab, Hyderabad and Imphal and the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), Thrissur, coming together and chalking out conservation programmes.

In Kerala, the entomologists from the KFRI claimed to have detected thousands of in the districts of Kollam and Trivandrum.

The insects were detected in host plants like the rain tree — Samania saman , Ficus religiosa andPterocarpum peltophorum . The insect populations were found in trees located in places of high human presence like the bus stand at Thampanoor, the Railway Station, Government hospital, Thycadu and the zoo at Thiruvananthapuram, said T.V. Sajeev, an entomologist of the Institute.

There were bird roosts in all the trees the insects were detected. The flightless insects depend on the birds for its dispersal, he said.

Lac, which was produced in considerable quantities in many places in the country, has now been confined to a few places.

The researchers plan to move a sample from each population during the brood phase to host plants grown at the KFRI campus and reintroduce the lac to homesteads of interested farmers during the next brooding season, said Mr. Sajeev.

Rapid changes in farming patterns are threatening lac

Source : The Hindu