Sticklac

Lac is the scarlet resinous secretion of a number of species of lac insects, of which the most commonly cultivated species is Kerria lacca.

Cultivation begins when a farmer gets a stick (broodlac) that contains eggs ready to hatch and ties it to the tree to be infested. Thousands of lac insects colonize the branches of the host trees and secrete the resinous pigment. The coated branches of the host trees are cut and harvested as sticklac.

The harvested sticklac is crushed and sieved to remove impurities. The sieved material is then repeatedly washed to remove insect parts and other soluble material. The resulting product is known as seedlac. The prefix seed refers to its pellet shape. Seedlac which still contains 3–5% impurities is processed into shellac by heat treatment or solvent extraction.

The leading producer of lac is Jharkhand, followed by the Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, and Maharashtra states of India. Lac production is also found in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, parts of China, and Mexico.

The word lac is derived from the Sanskrit word lākshā' (लाक्षा), which represents the number 100,000. It was used for both the lac insect (because of their enormous number) and the scarlet resinous secretion it produces. This resin has been used as wood finish, skin cosmetic and dye for wool and silk in ancient India and neighbouring areas. Lac resin was once imported in sizeable quantity into Europe from India along with Eastern woods.

Kerria lacca can be cultivated on either cultivated or wild host trees.

Estimated yields per tree in India are 6–10 kg for kusum, 1.5–6 kg for ber, and 1–4 kg for dhak. The bugs' life cycles can produce two sticklac yields per year, though it may be better to rest for six months to let the host tree recover.

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