The Story of Shellac and the Laccifer Lacca (Lac Beetle)

From the beetle to the tree, 'Shellac' embarks on a remarkable process before it is purified for commercial use. The Laccifer Lacca (Lac Beetle) is a scale insect from the cohiael family. Measuring just 5mm in length when fully grown, it resides on trees in India and southern Asia, such as the Ficus, Palas, Kusum (Schleichera oleosa) and Ber (Ziziphus mauritiana) tree's.

After the Mother sucks sap from the branches of certain trees. It sucks sap from the beginning to the end of its life. Mostly staying put, immobile but not not lazy. The Lac beetle is anchored by it's stalk of nose. The nose that slowly sucks sap, know as Lac that builds up and hardens over the Beetle to form a protective shell.

This amazing process requires the precise efforts of man, animals and nature to perfect.

Larvae draw sap from fresh shoots and then secrete a saliva known as "Lac." It sucks sap from the beginning to the end of its life. Mostly staying put, immobile but not not lazy. The Lac beetle is anchored by it's stalk of nose. The nose that slowly sucks sap, know as Lac that builds up and hardens over the Beetle to form a protective shell. The Lac continues to build up over the reproductive cycle.
The male fertilizes the female, then dies, leaving the female to produce a larvae of anywhere between 200 to 10,000 Lac Beetle's.

The amber coloured Lac is the raw material for "Shellac." Shellac is used for French polishing, food, medicine and many other household products.

At the end of the cycle, the adult Beetle's are harvested, separated and purified. Some adult Lac Beetle's are left behind to provide food for the newly born larvae. The process starts over again, taking 300,000 Lac Beetle's to produce a 1kg sack of Shellac.

French polish is formed from the excretion of the Lab Beetle which is the core ingredient of shellac.' From the beetle to the tree, shellac embarks on a remarkable natural process before it is purified for commercial use. Shellac was confined to the Far East until traders introduced it to Europe in the 1700's, it wasn't until the 18th century that the technique was refined by the French.

Survival of an art