author(s)
Sumit Kakade, Moni Thomas, Rahul Patidar, Shivam Vajpayee, Niraj Tripathi, Dhaneshwar B Patil, Ankit Khichi, Vishal Raut, AK Bhowmick, Anubha Upadhyay and HL Sharma

abstract
Preference of lac insects depends on the quality and quantity of phloem sap from the its host Commercially, Keria lacca is reared on the naturally standing trees of Butea monosperma, Zizyphus mauritiana and Schleicheria oleosa. In the recent field trial, Rangeeni brood lac was inoculated on annual leguminous shrub Cajanus cajan (L) Millsp grown on different substrate. Though the mean number of primary branches per plant varied from 2.17 T_2, (C. cajan grown on S₂ with lac insects and picking of mature pods_), T_6, (C. cajan grown on S₁ with lac insects and only one hand picking of mature pods followed by removal of flowers) to 2.67, T_4, (C. cajan grown on S₃ with lac insects and hand picking of pods). However, the mean number of secondary branches per plant varied from 6.17 (T₂) to 8.17 T_5, (C. cajan grown on S₁ with lac insects and removal of young pods). Lac insect settled of primary branches per plant was highest (94.44%) on C. cajan grown on substrate S₁ with removal of young pods (T₅). But the mean percent of lac insects settled secondary branches per plant was highest in both T₆ (85.95%) and T_3, (C. cajan grown on S₁ with lac insects and removal of flowers) (85.30%). Removal of sink enriches the nutrient status of phloem sap. Thus the data reveals that lac insect settlement or preference depends on the nutrient availability in the phloem sap of the host plant.