Cactus Dye Bug
The cochineal (/ ˌkɒtʃɪˈniːl, ˈkɒtʃɪniːl / KOTCH-in-EEL, -eel, US also / ˌkoʊtʃɪˈniːl, ˈkoʊtʃɪniːl / KOH-chin-; [1] Dactylopius coccus) is a scale insect in the suborder Sternorrhyncha, from which the natural dye carmine is derived. A primarily sessile parasite native to tropical and subtropical South America through North America (Mexico and the Southwest United. The story of the cochineal insect is used to create the color red including history, natural dyeing techniques and traditions throughout the Americas.
Scientists Are Making Cochineal, a Red Dye From Bugs, in the Lab Used to color foods and cosmetics, carminic acid is traditionally 'farmed' from an insect. But researchers are moving to. A few weeks ago, Bug of the Week, found itself near the Mohave Desert in California.
Cochineal, a red dye from bugs, moves to the lab | Knowable Magazine
Many of the beautiful prickly pear cacti in the area were flocked with dense white wax. Beneath the wax small insects called cochineal insects sucked the sap from the succulent leaves of the cactus. These cochineal insects are close relatives of soft scale insects and aphids visited in previous episodes of Bug.
Cochineal, a tiny, cactus-dwelling insect that produces a vibrant red pigment, was harvested for thousands of years by Indigenous peoples to produce a dye for their own textiles. Following the Spanish invasion of the Americas, cochineal ultimately became a globally traded commodity. In Europe, its red became the color of power, tinting the red coats of English soldiers and the Catholic clergy.
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Prickly Pear Cactus, Opuntia phaecantha Cochineal insects feed on virtually any of the more than 200 species of prickly pear cacti. This glass model, made by glass artist Rudolf and Leopold Blaschka, depicts one such species, Opuntia phaeacantha. The Cochineal Cactus Plant, or Opuntia, offers more than its rugged desert beauty.
Surprisingly, it serves as the source of a vibrant red dye, thanks to the tiny cochineal insects inhabiting it. These insects, often confused with red dye beetles, belong to the scale insect family and produce carminic acid, the core ingredient for cochineal dye. Cochineal is a scale insect and is found on prickly pear cactus, Opuntia engelmanii.
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As a rasping, sucking insect, it feeds on the tasty juices of the cactus. It produces a cottony white covering to protect itself from predators. Cochineal, red dyestuff consisting of the dried, pulverized bodies of certain female scale insects, Dactylopius coccus, of the Coccidae family, cactus-eating insects native to tropical and subtropical America.
Cochineal is used to produce scarlet, crimson, orange, and other tints and to prepare. Centuries before the now-banned red dye No. 3 was synthesized in a lab, humans turned to insects to color their foods, fabrics and artwork.
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