Armenian Cochineal

The Armenian cochineal (''Porphyrophora hamelii''), also known as the Ararat cochineal or Ararat scale, is a scale insect indigenous to the Ararat plain and Aras (Araks) River valley in the Armenian Highlands and in Turkey. It was formerly used to produce an eponymous crimson carmine dyestuff known in Armenia as ''vordan karmir'' ( hy, որդան կարմիր, literally "worm's red") and historically in Persia as ''kirmiz''. Vedeler, citing Cardon (2007), notes that "the Persian name ''Kirmiz'' originally referred to the Armenian carmine, a parasitic insect living on Gramineae grass, but the same name was also used by Arab geographers for insects living on oak trees in Maghreb and Al-Andalus, probably referring to '' Kermes vermilio''", although " is ... not clear whether the 'Kirmiz' dyestuff mentioned in early Arab texts always refers to the use of the insect ''Kermes Vermilio''." English translation by Caroline Higgitt of Cardon's French-language book ''Le monde des teintures naturelles'' (Éditions Belin, Paris, 2003). The species is critically endangered within Armenia.

The Armenian cochineal scale insect, ''Porphyrophora hamelii'', is in a different taxonomic family from the cochineal found in the Americas. Both insects produce red dyestuffs that are also commonly called cochineal.

History and art

''Porphyrophora hamelii'' is one of the ancient natural sources of red dye in the Middle East and Europe, along with the insect dyes kermes (from '' Kermes vermilio'' and related species), lac (from '' Kerria lacca'' and related species), and carmine from other ''Porphyrophora'' species such as the Polish cochineal (''Porphyrophora polonica''), and the plant dye madder (from ''Rubia tinctorum'' and related species). It is possible that Armenian cochineal dye was in use as early as 714 BC, when the Neo-Assyrian king Sargon II was recorded as seizing red textiles as spoils of war from the kingdoms of Urartu (the geographic predecessor of Armenia) and Kilhu. The Roman-era physician and pharmacologist Dioscorides, writing in the 1st century AD, noted that the best ''kokkos baphike'', the kermes shrub and its "grain" ( kermes insect) that some ancient writers likely confused with ''Porphyrophora hamelii'', came from Galatia and Armenia. English translation by T.A. Obaldeston with introductory notes by R.P. Wood. In the Early Middle Ages the Armenian historians Ghazar Parpetsi and Movses Khorenatsi wrote specifically of a worm-produced dyestuff from the Ararat region.

During the Middle Ages the Armenian cochineal dyestuff ''vordan karmir'', also known in Persia as ''kirmiz'', was widely celebrated in the Near East. ''Kirmiz'' is not to be confused with dyer's kermes, which was derived from another insect. The Armenian cities Artashat and Dvin were early centers of the production of ''kirmiz'': during the 8th through 10th centuries Arab and Persian historians even referred to Artashat as "the town of ''kirmiz''". The Arabs and Persians regarded ''kirmiz'' as one of the most valuable commodities exported from Armenia. The Armenians themselves used ''vordan karmir'' to produce dyes for textiles (including oriental rugs) and pigments for illuminated manuscripts and church frescos. Chemical analyses have identified the dye of ''Porphyrophora hamelii'' in Coptic textiles of the 3rd through 10th centuries, a cashmere cloth used in a kaftan from Sassanid Persia in the 6th or 7th century, silk liturgical gloves from 15th-century France, Ottoman fabrics such as velvets and lampas of the 15th through 17th centuries, and a 16th-century velvet cap of maintenance that belonged to Henry VIII of England.

At the time of the Renaissance in Europe, ''Porphyrophora'' insects were so valuable that in Constantinople during the 1430s, of ''Porphyrophora hamelii'' insects was worth more than of gold.Some articles improperly cite Cardon to suggest, incorrectly, that Armenian cochineal insects were more valuable, by weight, than gold (i.e., one gram of insects was worth several grams of gold) during this era. Cardon (2007) does, however, note that according to the records of a Venetian merchant trading in Constantinople during the 1430s, even the cheapest Armenian cochineal insects were still worth more, pound-for-pound, than some live slaves ( Circassian women and adolescents) that he had bought. The crimson ''Porphyrophora''-based dyes were especially prized in Europe for dyeing silk, as the scarlet dye kermes was more plentiful, cheaper, and more effective for dyeing woolen textiles, which are heavier than silk and require more dye. It has been estimated that on the order of a half million dried ''Porphyrophora hamelii'' insects were required to dye of silk crimson during this period.400,000 to 560,000 dried ''P. hamelii'' insects were required to dye 1 kg of silk according to the figures of Cardon (2007): 1,000 g to 1,400 g of dried insects per 100 g of silk, with 40 adult females per gram of dried insects. Note that Virey (1840) reports 18,000–23,000 insects per 360-gram troy pound (50–64 insects per gram; not stated whether they were dried). On the comparison between Armenian and Polish cochineal, the author of a 15th-century treatise on silks in Florence wrote that "two pounds of the large Armenian cochineal insects will dye as much silk as one pound of small Polish cochineal insects; it is true that it gives a more noble and brighter colour than the small, but it gives less dye."

Around the end of the 16th century the Old World ''Porphyrophora'' dyes were supplanted by dyes of the ''Dactylopius coccus'' cochineal species from the Americas, which could be harvested several times per year and yielded a much more concentrated dye.

The carmine dyestuff of ''Porphyrophora hamelii'' owes its red color almost entirely to carminic acid, making it difficult to distinguish chemically from the dyestuff of cochineal from the Americas. The dyestuff of ''Porphyrophora polonica'' can be distinguished by its small admixture of kermesic acid, which is the major constituent of kermes from ''Kermes vermilio''.

In 1833 the German naturalist Johann Friedrich von Brandt suggested the scientific name ''Porphyrophora hamelii'' after the Russian physician, traveler, and historian of German descent Iosif Khristianovich Gamel (Josef Hamel) ( ru), who visited the Ararat plain in the early 1830s and wrote a report about the "cochineal" insects living there.. Publication of Hamel's 4 May 1833 report on the Ararat cochineal. Hamel's report mentions Brandt.

File:Vordan Karmir (Cochineal Red) ornament on the ceiling of S. Grigor Chapel, Noravank monastery.jpg, ''Vordan karmir'' ceiling art at Noravank Monastery
File:Խաչքար Գեղարդ27.JPG, ''Khachkars'' (cross-stones) at Geghard Monastery painted with ''vordan karmir''
File:Saint Bertrand de Comminges-Gants et Chaussons.jpg, Silk liturgical gloves (left) of Cardinal Pierre de Foix (15th century), dyed crimson with ''P. hamelii'' carmine
File:Armenian Stamp Karmin.jpg, A 2006 Armenian postage stamp depicting ''P. hamelii''

Biology

''Porphyrophora hamelii'' is a sexually dimorphic species. The adult female, from which carmine is extracted, is oval-shaped, soft-bodied, crimson in color, and has large forelegs for digging. The females can be quite large for a ''Porphyrophora'' species: up to long and wide. It has been noted that one troy pound (360 grams) of cochineal insects requires 18,000–23,000 specimens of ''Porphyrophora hamelii'', but 100,000–130,000 specimens of the sister species ''Porphyrophora polonica'' (or 20,000–25,000 specimens of ''Dactylopius coccus''). The adult male ''Porphyrophora hamelii'' is a winged insect.

The life cycle of ''Porphyrophora hamelii'' is mostly subterranean. Newly hatched nymphs emerge from the ground in the springtime and crawl until they find the roots of certain grassy plants that grow in saline soil, such as ''Aeluropus littoralis'' ( hy, որդանխոտ (genus ''Aeluropus''), literally "worm's grass") and the common reed ''Phragmites australis''. The nymphs continue to feed on these roots throughout the spring and summer, forming protective pearl-like cysts in the process. From mid-September to mid-October adults emerge from the ground between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m. to mate.Cardon (2007) cites her own field mission in Armenia in 1989 as well as the papers by Jakubski (1965) and Mktrtchian and Sarkisov (1985) for her description of ''Porphyrophora hamelii'' biology, which states that the mating time is from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. The ''Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia'' (1982) and the online ''Red Book of Armenia'' (which cites Mktchyan and Sarkisov (1985) and others) state that the mating time is from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. Note that in 1982 and 1985 the emergence of the insects in early September would have been in Armenian Summer Time (UTC+5), whereas the Republic of Armenia has been on UTC+4 time year-round since 2012. The adult insects, lacking mouthparts, do not feed. Adult males live for only a few days, but adult females can live longer, burrowing into the ground to lay their eggs.

Habitat and conservation

The red dye-producing insects of the Ararat plain were once plentiful: a 19th-century French traveler wrote that shepherds' flocks, when led to drink from the Araxes (Araks) River, would appear bloody from the insects. In the mid-20th century the extent of occurrence in Armenia was with a recorded distribution that included the Ararat and Armavir provinces in Armenia as well as the Turkish, Iranian, and Russian Caucasus, but by the 1990s the extent of occurrence in Armenia had shrunk to about , mostly in Armavir Province. During the Soviet period, desalination of the Armenian salt marshes to create "economic and agricultural regions", and the creation of lakes for fisheries, "severely restricted the habitable area for the insects and endangered their existence."

The population in Armenia resides almost entirely in the Vordan Karmir State Reservation, a salt meadow habitat of northwest of Arazap village and in the north of Jrarat village established in 1987 near the Araks River border with Turkey, plus a site southeast of Ararat village and a few patches of several hectares elsewhere. There have been no recent scientific reports on populations of ''Porphyrophora hamelii'' outside the surroundings of Mount Ararat.

''Porphyrophora hamelii'' is considered critically endangered within Armenia by meeting the following conditions: an area of occupancy of less than , plus severely fragmented occupancy or known to exist at only a single location, plus continued decline (observed, inferred, or projected) in the area of occurrence, area of occupancy, and area, extent, and/or quality of habitat; and an extent of occurrence of less than with the aforementioned conditions of continued decline.

Threats to the ''Porphyrophora hamelii'' population in Armenia include the development of saline lands, agricultural improvements, uncontrolled livestock grazing, and possibly climate change. Natural foes of the species include mold mites, lady beetles, harvester ants, and erratic ants.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10637838

Margarodidae
Endemic fauna of Armenia
Insects of Asia
Animal dyes
Armenian art
Insects described in 1833
Taxa named by Johann Friedrich von Brandt
Taxa named by Julius Theodor Christian Ratzeburg