Scale insect shellac

Although there are many other kinds of insect waxes, only two are of economic importance namely, shellac wax and Chinese insect wax. Shellac wax is derived from the lac insect, a parasite that feeds on the sap of the lac tree indigenous to India. The commercial wax is not ordinarily the native Indian lac wax, but is a by-product recovered from the dewaxing of shellac spar varnishes. Lac wax melts at 72-80°C, whereas commercial shellac wax melts at 80-84.5°C. Its high melting point and dielectric properties favor its use in the electrical industry for insulation. Chinese insect wax is the product of the scale insect. 

Refers to any of a class of amorphous solids or semisolids. Natural resins occur as plant exudations (e.g., of pines and firs), and are also obtained from certain scale insects. They are typically yellow to brown in color, tasteless, and translucent or transparent. Oleoresins contain essential oils and are often sticky or plastic other resins are exceedingly hard, brittle, and resistant to most solvents. Resins are used in varnish, shellac, and lacquer and in medicine. Synthetic resins, e.g., bakelite, are widely used in making plastics. Refer to Varnish and Shellac. 

Solution or a resin exuded by a scale insect, in alcohol or acetone. The color ranges from light yellow to orange the darker shellacs are the less pure. When bleached it is known as white shellac. Applied to surfaces, e.g., wood, shellac forms a hard coating when the solvent evaporates. Shellac is used as a spirit varnish, as a protective covering for drawings and plaster casts, for stiffening felt hats, and in electrical insulation. 

Resins largely amorphous, solid or half-solid, transparent, odorless and tasteless organic substances, usuaUy of vegetable origin. Tree R. are clashed according to age into fossil R., such as amber, recent fossil R. (several years to centuries old), e.g. copal R and recent R., which occur mostly as balsams fresh from injured trees. Caoutchouc (see) is included with the R. Herbaceous plants produce R., e.g. mastic, but not in any considerable quantity. Mixtures of R. with mucin are called gum R. Solutions of R. are referred to as balsams. The most important animal R. is shellac, produced by the female East Asian scale insect (Tachardia lacca). 

Shellac. Shellac is outstanding in that it is the only resin of animal origin. Shellac is a yellow, orange, or brown solid derived from lac, the secretion of the scale-like Kerria lacca insects that inhabit trees in areas of India and Thailand. To obtain the resin, twigs encrusted with the insect s secretion are cut down from the trees, the incrustation is removed from the twigs, coarsely... 

---