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- Dictionarycochineal/ˌkɒtʃɪˈniːl/
noun
- 1. a scarlet dye used for colouring food, made from the crushed dried bodies of a female scale insect.
- 2. the scale insect that is used for cochineal, native to Mexico and formerly cultivated on cacti.
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A cluster of females. Cochineal insects are soft-bodied, flat, oval-shaped scale insects. The females, wingless and about 5 mm (0.20 in) long, cluster on cactus pads. They penetrate the cactus with their beak-like mouthparts and feed on its juices, remaining immobile unless alarmed.
Nov 30, 2023 · Cochineal is a red dye made from the dried female cochineal insects, which are parasites of cacti. Learn more about the history, examples, and uses of cochineal from Merriam-Webster dictionary.
Jun 12, 2024 · Cochineal is a red dyestuff made from female scale insects that feed on cacti in America. Learn about its history, production, uses, and chemical composition from Britannica.
Aug 25, 2022 · Cochineal is a brilliant red dye extracted from the crushed bodies of parasitic insects which prey on cacti in the warmer parts of the Americas. The dye was an important part of trade in ancient Mesoamerica and South America and throughout the colonial era when its use spread worldwide.
Cochineal is a red substance made from a type of small South American insect. Learn how to use it in food, see examples from literature and find translations in different languages.
Cochineal is a red pigment produced by a cactus-dwelling insect that was harvested by Indigenous peoples in Mexico. Learn how cochineal became a global commodity and a symbol of power, art and trade, and how it exploited Indigenous knowledge and labor.
Cochineal, Dactylopius coccus, is a small scale insect native to subtropical South America through the Southwest United States that lives in stationary clumps on nopal, prickly pear cacti of the genus Opuntia.
