- Feb 5, 2002
- 166,214
- 55,965
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Catholic
- Marital Status
- Married
- Politics
- US-Others
For years, people hungered for the perfect red. The color has a long human history: Mesoamerican scribes used it to record their history, while the Old Testament paints it as the color of sin. In Europe, monarchs draped themselves in rich reds to showcase their wealth. And though the best baroque painters sought to incorporate these deep tones into their work, they often struggled to recreate the fiery shades found in nature—at least until Europeans found out about the cochineal insect, a creature that creates a red dye so incredible that the continent nearly went to war over it.
THE COLORFUL HISTORY OF THE COCHINEAL INSECT
Cochineal scales created this blood-red smear of dye.PERE_RUBI/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES
At first appearance, the cochineal insect doesn't look very remarkable. It's a tiny bug, with no visible legs or antennae, that lives in prickly pears in the arid regions of the Americas. Adult males never eat, and die shortly after fertilizing a female’s eggs. The females, meanwhile, insert their needle-like mouths directly into the cactus and spend their whole lives slurping prickly pear juice and covering themselves in a white, fluffy protective wax.
Continued below.
The Bug the World Fought Over
THE COLORFUL HISTORY OF THE COCHINEAL INSECT
Cochineal scales created this blood-red smear of dye.PERE_RUBI/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES
At first appearance, the cochineal insect doesn't look very remarkable. It's a tiny bug, with no visible legs or antennae, that lives in prickly pears in the arid regions of the Americas. Adult males never eat, and die shortly after fertilizing a female’s eggs. The females, meanwhile, insert their needle-like mouths directly into the cactus and spend their whole lives slurping prickly pear juice and covering themselves in a white, fluffy protective wax.
Continued below.
The Bug the World Fought Over
