The cochineal insect feeds upon the Opuntia pads where the female spends its whole life. You recognize its presence by the white, cottony webbing that serves as sun protection and camouflage.

That bright red comes from something else called carmine. Oh, and it's made from squashed bugs. Squashed female cochineal bugs, to be specific. They're tick-sized critters native to Mesoamerica ...

The extract of cochineal tends to come up a lot. The cochineal bugs—a species of scale insect—are a centuries-old colorant. In the 19th century, chemists figured out how to make a synthetic ...

What color results? The extracted dye from the female cochineal bugs is used to color foods, makeup, and clothing. Cochineal dye is great because it can be used to get various colors when mixed with ...

But today, Peru dominates the market, and Mexico’s cochineal farms are disappearing. More from Big Business Cochineals are tiny bugs that live on prickly pear cactuses. The acid in their guts ...

4. Place the remainder of the water in the “rinse” cup. 5. Arrange the bowl and spoon (or mortar and pestle), paper, paintbrushes, and dried cochineal bugs near the cups. Crush the bug into a fine ...

Thirty other patients had negative patch test results. Carmine is a widely used pigment derived from gravid cochineal insects. Carminic acid is the source of its color. Only two previous ...

That bright red comes from something else called carmine. Oh, and it's made from squashed bugs. Squashed female cochineal bugs, to be specific. They're tick-sized critters native to Mesoamerica ...

An estimated 70,000 cochineal beetles are needed to produce one pound of crushed dried insect and a fifth of a pound of carminic acid, according to Smithsonian Magazine. This age-old, animal ...