Composition of insect waxes. I. Waxes of exotic coccidae:Gascardia madagascariensis,Coccus ceriferus andTachardia lacca

Composition of several coccid waxes has been determined by means of alumina and gas-liquid chromatography.Coccus ceriferus wax is a mixture of the esters of C₂₆ and C₂₈ alcohols with C₂₄, C₂₆ and C₂₈ acids.Tachardia lacca wax has a high percentage of free alcohols (essentially C₂₈ alcohol);Gascardia madagascariensis wax contains a large proportion of free acids. In addition to C₂₆, C₃₂ and C₃₄ normal chain acids, there are several C₃₀, C₃₂ and C₃₄ hydroxy acids, in which the hydroxyl function is situated in the middle of the hydrocarbon chain. Small proportions of odd and even hydrocarbons are present in all of the waxes investigated.