A Preliminary Study on Biology of Kerria lacca strain Rangeeni

This strain of lac insect species was introduced from Nepal in 1999.It completed the life-cycle twice a year in Yuanjiang of Yunnan Province.The lac insect showed a stable life-cycle which indicated that the introduction and reproduction was successful.The individual of the lac insect had the characters of high lac yield(19. 0 mg/lac)and egg production(600 to 1 000 eggs).The colour of lac was light yellow and quality of lac was better than that of China′s lac insect(Kerria chinesis).It was shown that this lac insect species was one of the optimal lac insects for lac production.Twelve species of host tree were selected in which Butea monosperma was the best followed by Acacia glouca. The insect pest in introduction acclimatization was studied preliminarily.From the viewpoints of rule of life-cycle,climatic conditions needed,host and eating habit,this lac insect could be identified as kerria lacca strain Rangeeni.