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 ...

A furor seemed to seize the people in its favor, as it had already been demonstrated that the cochineal insect propagated rapidly, and the cactus flourished luxuriantly The deserted vineyards were ...

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 ...

cochineal dye (which has been extracted from the body of a female cochineal insect). Cochineal dye will change colors if the solution is acidic, basic, or neutral. You will need an indicator to do ...

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 ...

“While [cochineal] is a safe product that poses no ... “This would send me into a heart attack,” wrote a third. While the bug stirred up a lot of horror among viewers, plenty of them were ...