Bhateja S, Mahla M.K., Swami H. and Babu S.R. and Meena M.S.
Abstract
The present investigation to study the morphological differences in the different coloured resinous encrusted Rangeeni lac insect was undertaken to determine whether different coloured resinous encrustations of the Rangeeni strain of Kerria lacca exhibit any measurable variation in adult female morphology. The results revealed that the morphometric analysis of adult female Kerria lacca emerging from five different coloured resinous encrustations revealed a high degree of uniformity across all the morphological characters studied, namely body length, number of antennal segments, spine length, anal tubercle length, and body width at the base, middle and apex. The mean body length varied marginally from 4.389 ± 0.053 mm (cream) to 4.417 ± 0.052 mm (crimson), while the number of antennal segments ranged from 2.13 ± 0.06 (orange) to 2.17 ± 0.07 (yellow), with most individuals possessing two antennal segments. Similarly, spine length exhibited only slight variation, ranging from 0.167 ± 0.006 mm (cream) to 0.175 ± 0.006 mm (crimson), whereas anal tubercle length varied between 0.231 ± 0.015 mm and 0.246 ± 0.015 mm among the colour groups. Body width measured at the base, middle and apex also remained highly consistent, ranging from 1.010 ± 0.036 to 1.027 ± 0.035 mm, 1.063 ± 0.035 to 1.080 ± 0.035 mm, and 0.902 ± 0.030 to 0.919 ± 0.029 mm, respectively, with the highest values generally recorded in females emerging from crimson-coloured resinous encrustations and the lowest in cream-coloured encrustations.