Cochineal

A type of scale, cochineals are soft-bodied, flat, oval shaped insects that cluster on plants and suck out their juices. There are at least 2,000 types of scales and they can be found in Mexico and in the southwestern United States. Female cochineals are red and feed on prickly pear cactus. They also secrete a waxy, white material over their bodies for protection. This secretion looks like spit on a plant. The feeding of the female cochineal often causes damage and sometimes kills the host plant. Adult males have wings, are tiny and cannot feed at all. They only live long enough to fertilize the eggs. Immature males can feed for a short time.

A brilliant, crimson-colored dye can be produced from dried female cochineal bodies. This dye was once widely prized in both the New World and in Europe. It was used in paints by Michelangelo and on the fabrics of the Hussars, the Turks, the British Redcoats, and the Canadian Mounted Police. Some think that the red color of the first flag of the United States, created by Betsy Ross, was made from cochineal dye. Cochineals are in the order Hemiptera.

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