Lac insect
The lac insect is a tiny bug that lives on tree branches in Asia. It sucks sap and covers itself with a sticky resin called lac. People collect this lac and use it to make shiny varnish and red dye.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Lac is the only resin from an animal that people buy and sell. It is used to make shellac, a shiny coating for wood.
Its babies are called crawlers, because they crawl along the branches to find a good spot to drink.
When it pokes a hole in a branch, it closes the hole with its own wax.
Long ago, a red colour from inside its body was used to dye wool and silk.
Millions of people farm lac insects. India makes about 20,000 tonnes of raw lac every year.
Most asked questions about Lac insect
?What is lac used for?
It is made into shellac, a shiny varnish, and also into wax and a red dye.
?What does the lac insect eat?
It drinks sap from tree branches. Farmers often raise it on trees called palas, kusum and ber.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Kerria lacca
- Named by
- Kerr, 1782
- Group
- True bugs and cicadas
- Family
- Kerriidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hemiptera > Kerriidae
- Lives on
- Asia
Where the facts come from
- Kerria lacca (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Harold Maxwell-Lefroy; artist F.M. Howlett. CC0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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