Study on the abundance of various insect associated with the lac insect (Kerria lacca Kerr.) in Allahabad region

A study was carried out for the assessment of abundance of various insects associated with lac insect Kerria lacca (Kerr.) in Allahabad growing region of Uttar Pradesh. For this purpose Rangeeni lac growing host plants i.e. Zizyphus mauritiana (Lamak.) and Butea monosperma (Lamak.) were selected. The data were recorded on both these host plants with same ecological situations. This study indicated that the abundance of various insects is more in Katki crop than baisakhi. Lac insect predaters like Eublema amabilis Moore and Pseudohypatopa pulverea Mayrick. were found in all the selected area. Similarly lac insect parasitoids Tachardiaephagus tachardiae (How), T. somervilli (Mahd.), Aprostocetus purpureus (Cam.), were found in nominal amount in Allahabad and Mirzapur district. It was seen that the abundance of the parasites and predator varied considerably with the crops. This study shows that abundance of lac insect fauna is very low even below the consideration level in most of the areas.