Reproductive isolation in lac insects-Kerria lacca and Kerria chinensis Mohanasundaram A.*, Ramani R., Sharma K.K., Thamilarasi K. Lac Production Division, ICAR-Indian institute of Natural Resins and Gums, Ranchi, 834010 *Email: mohaniinrg@gmail.com
Online published on 5 February, 2019. Abstract Lac insects belongs to the family Tachardiidae (=Kerridae) of the order Hemiptera, and superfamily Coccoidea. In this family, there are 99 species under 9 genera, of which 26 species under two genera occur in India. Natural populations of Kerria spp. are distributed throughout India and K. chinensis in the northeastern states is also cultivated to a certain extent. Cross breeding study done between lac insects, K. lacca and K. chinensis revealed that female cell weight was more in mated K. chinensis (14.5 and 29.6 mg) as compared to virgin K. chinensis (5.7 and 8.8 mg) in summer and rainy seasons, respectively. The physical growth of fertilized female indicated successful mating between the two species. Mated females secreted more resin compared to virgins; however, no embryonic development was observed in their ovaries and hence no young ones emerged from mated K. chinensis, indicating reproductive isolation. Therefore, it is inferred that K. lacca and K. chinensis are distinct species, which is corroborated with analyses using molecular markers. The ecological speciation is perhaps involved in K. chinensis during evolution. Top Keywords Kerria lacca, K. chinensis, cross breeding, mating, summer, rainy seasons, physical growth, ovaries, reproductive evolution. Top |