SURVEY OF PREVELANCE AND ABUNDANCE OF NATURAL PUPOLATION OF LAC INSECT KERRIA LACCA (KERR) AND OF ITS NATURAL ENEMIES IN DIFFERENT STATES OF ARID WESTERN PLAINS ON DIFFERENT HOST PLANTS

Survey for the presence of natural population of lac insect Kerria lacca (Kerr) on various host plants were carried out at 178 locations of 27 districts of Arid Western Plains viz., Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana and the presence of lac insect was recorded on hosts viz., Peepal (Ficus religiosa L.), Bargad (Ficus benghalensis L.), Ber (Ziziphus mauritiana Lam.), Babool (Vachellia nilotica L.), Gular (Ficus racemose L.) and Sitafal (Annona squamosal L.), of which Peepal (Ficus religiosa L.) was the most predominant host of natural lac recorded at total 142 locations.Among all the host plant samples, highest natural enemy emergence was recorded from the samples of Peepal (387) followed by Ber (96), Bargad (23), Babool (12) and Gular (3).Lac associated fauna emerged from different host samples comprises of both natural enemies and storage pests belonging to four orders viz., Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, Coleptera and Pcoptera and eight families viz., Noctuidae (E.amabilis), Blastobasidae (P.pulverea), Encyrtidae (E.dewitzii & T. tachardiae), Eulophidae (A. purpureus), Braconidae (B.greeni), Curculionidae (S. oryzae), Silvanidae (O.surinamensis) and Liposelidae (L.divinatorius) .Of emerged natural enemies primary parasitoids were maximum, followed by predators and hyperparasitoids with contribution of 44.20, 38.41 and 4.73 per cent to the total natural enemy population.Lac associated fauna emerged after six weeks of storage till next VI weeks with maximum emergence in III rd week.