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Cochineal
The cochineal ( , ; ''Dactylopius coccus'') is a scale insect in the suborder Sternorrhyncha, from which the natural dye carmine is derived. A primarily sessile parasite native to tropical and subtropical South America through North America (Mexico and the Southwest United States), this insect lives on cacti in the genus '' Opuntia'', feeding on plant moisture and nutrients. The insects are found on the pads of prickly pear cacti, collected by brushing them off the plants, and dried. The insect produces carminic acid that deters predation by other insects. Carminic acid, typically 17–24% of dried insects' weight, can be extracted from the body and eggs, then mixed with aluminium or calcium salts to make carmine dye, also known as cochineal. Today, carmine is primarily used as a colorant in food and in lipstick ( E120 or Natural Red 4). Carmine dye was used in the Americas for coloring fabrics and became an important export good in the 16th century during the colon ...
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Carminic Acid
Carminic acid (C22H20O13) is a red glucosidal hydroxyanthrapurin that occurs naturally in some scale insects, such as the cochineal, Armenian cochineal, and Polish cochineal. The insects produce the acid as a deterrent to predators. An aluminum salt of carminic acid is the coloring agent in carmine, a pigment. Natives of Peru had been producing cochineal dyes for textiles since at least 700 CE. Synonyms are C.I. 75470 and C.I. Natural Red 4. The chemical structure of carminic acid consists of a core anthraquinone structure linked to a glucose sugar unit. Carminic acid was first synthesized in the laboratory by organic chemists in 1991. In 2018, researchers genetically engineered the microbe ''Aspergillus nidulans'' to produce carminic acid. It was previously thought that it contains α-D-glucopyranosyl residue, which was later redetermined to be the β-D-glucopyranosyl anomer. Harvesting from cochineals Carminic acid is commonly harvested from an American species scal ...
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Carminic Acid
Carminic acid (C22H20O13) is a red glucosidal hydroxyanthrapurin that occurs naturally in some scale insects, such as the cochineal, Armenian cochineal, and Polish cochineal. The insects produce the acid as a deterrent to predators. An aluminum salt of carminic acid is the coloring agent in carmine, a pigment. Natives of Peru had been producing cochineal dyes for textiles since at least 700 CE. Synonyms are C.I. 75470 and C.I. Natural Red 4. The chemical structure of carminic acid consists of a core anthraquinone structure linked to a glucose sugar unit. Carminic acid was first synthesized in the laboratory by organic chemists in 1991. In 2018, researchers genetically engineered the microbe ''Aspergillus nidulans'' to produce carminic acid. It was previously thought that it contains α-D-glucopyranosyl residue, which was later redetermined to be the β-D-glucopyranosyl anomer. Harvesting from cochineals Carminic acid is commonly harvested from an American species scal ...
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Carmine
Carmine ()also called cochineal (when it is extracted from the cochineal insect), cochineal extract, crimson lake, or carmine lake is a pigment of a bright-red color obtained from the aluminium complex derived from carminic acid. Specific code names for the pigment include natural red 4, C.I. 75470, or E120. ''Carmine'' is also a general term for a particularly deep-red color. Etymology The English word "carmine" is derived from the French word ''carmin'' (12th century), from Medieval Latin ''carminium'', from Persian ''qirmiz'' ("crimson"), which itself derives from Middle Persian ''carmir'' ("red, crimson"). The Persian term ''carmir'' is likely cognate with Sanskrit ''krimiga'' ("insect-produced"), from ''krmi'' ("worm, insect"). The Persian word for "worm, insect" is ''kirm'', and in Iran ( Persia) the red colorant carmine was extracted from the bodies of dead female insects such as ''Kermes vermilio'' and cochineal. The form of the term may also have been i ...
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Carmine
Carmine ()also called cochineal (when it is extracted from the cochineal insect), cochineal extract, crimson lake, or carmine lake is a pigment of a bright-red color obtained from the aluminium complex derived from carminic acid. Specific code names for the pigment include natural red 4, C.I. 75470, or E120. ''Carmine'' is also a general term for a particularly deep-red color. Etymology The English word "carmine" is derived from the French word ''carmin'' (12th century), from Medieval Latin ''carminium'', from Persian ''qirmiz'' ("crimson"), which itself derives from Middle Persian ''carmir'' ("red, crimson"). The Persian term ''carmir'' is likely cognate with Sanskrit ''krimiga'' ("insect-produced"), from ''krmi'' ("worm, insect"). The Persian word for "worm, insect" is ''kirm'', and in Iran ( Persia) the red colorant carmine was extracted from the bodies of dead female insects such as ''Kermes vermilio'' and cochineal. The form of the term may also have been i ...
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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 ...
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Dactylopiidae
''Dactylopius'' is a genus of insect in the superfamily Coccoidea, the scale insects. It is the only genus in the family Dactylopiidae.Van Dam, A. R. and B. May. (2012)A new species of ''Dactylopius'' Costa (''Dactylopius gracilipilus'' sp. nov.) (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Dactylopiidae) from the Chihuahuan Desert, Texas, U.S.A.''Zootaxa'' 3573: 33–39. These insects are known commonly as cochineals,Ramírez-Puebla, S. T., et al. (2010)Molecular phylogeny of the genus ''Dactylopius'' (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae) and identification of the symbiotic bacteria. ''Environmental Entomology'' 39(4), 1178-83.Chávez-Moreno, C. K., et al. (2011)Distribution and habitat in Mexico of ''Dactylopius'' Costa (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae) and their cacti hosts (Cactaceae: Opuntioideae).''Neotropical Entomology'' 40(1), 62-71. a name that also specifically refers to the best-known species, the cochineal (''Dactylopius coccus''). The cochineal is an insect of economic and historical importance as a main s ...
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Dactylopius
''Dactylopius'' is a genus of insect in the superfamily Coccoidea, the scale insects. It is the only genus in the family Dactylopiidae.Van Dam, A. R. and B. May. (2012)A new species of ''Dactylopius'' Costa (''Dactylopius gracilipilus'' sp. nov.) (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Dactylopiidae) from the Chihuahuan Desert, Texas, U.S.A.''Zootaxa'' 3573: 33–39. These insects are known commonly as cochineals,Ramírez-Puebla, S. T., et al. (2010)Molecular phylogeny of the genus ''Dactylopius'' (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae) and identification of the symbiotic bacteria. ''Environmental Entomology'' 39(4), 1178-83.Chávez-Moreno, C. K., et al. (2011)Distribution and habitat in Mexico of ''Dactylopius'' Costa (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae) and their cacti hosts (Cactaceae: Opuntioideae).''Neotropical Entomology'' 40(1), 62-71. a name that also specifically refers to the best-known species, the cochineal (''Dactylopius coccus''). The cochineal is an insect of economic and historical importance as a main so ...
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Opuntia
''Opuntia'', commonly called prickly pear or pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae. Prickly pears are also known as ''tuna'' (fruit), ''sabra'', '' nopal'' (paddle, plural ''nopales'') from the Nahuatl word for the pads, or nostle, from the Nahuatl word for the fruit; or paddle cactus. The genus is named for the Ancient Greek city of Opus, where, according to Theophrastus, an edible plant grew and could be propagated by rooting its leaves. The most common culinary species is the Indian fig opuntia (''O. ficus-indica''). Description ''O. ficus-indica'' is a large, trunk-forming, segmented cactus that may grow to with a crown of over in diameter and a trunk diameter of . Cladodes (large pads) are green to blue-green, bearing few spines up to or may be spineless. Prickly pears typically grow with flat, rounded cladodes (also called platyclades) containing large, smooth, fixed spines and small, hairlike prickles called glochids th ...
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Cactus
A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek word (''káktos''), a name originally used by Theophrastus for a spiny plant whose identity is now not certain. Cacti occur in a wide range of shapes and sizes. Although some species live in quite humid environments, most cacti live in habitats subject to at least some drought. Many live in extremely dry environments, even being found in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth. Because of this, cacti show many adaptations to conserve water. For example, almost all cacti are succulents, meaning they have thickened, fleshy parts adapted to store water. Unlike many other succulents, the stem is the only part of most cacti where this vital process takes place. Most species of cacti have lost true leaves, retaining only spine ...
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Hemiptera
Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from to around , and share a common arrangement of piercing-sucking mouthparts. The name "true bugs" is often limited to the suborder Heteroptera. Entomologists reserve the term ''bug'' for Hemiptera or Heteroptera,Gilbert Waldbauer. ''The Handy Bug Answer Book.'' Visible Ink, 1998p. 1. which does not include other arthropods or insects of other orders such as ants, bees, beetles, or butterflies. In some variations of English, all terrestrial arthropods (including non-insect arachnids, and myriapods) also fall under the colloquial understanding of ''bug''. Many insects with "bug" in their common name, especially in American English, belong to other orders; for example, the lovebug is a fly and the Maybug and ladybug are beetles. The term is al ...
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Scale Insect
Scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. Of dramatically variable appearance and extreme sexual dimorphism, they comprise the infraorder Coccomorpha which is considered a more convenient grouping than the superfamily Coccoidea due to taxonomic uncertainties. Adult females typically have soft bodies and no limbs, and are concealed underneath domed scales, extruding quantities of wax for protection. Some species are hermaphroditic, with a combined ovotestis instead of separate ovaries and testes. Males, in the species where they occur, have legs and sometimes wings, and resemble small flies. Scale insects are herbivores, piercing plant tissues with their mouthparts and remaining in one place, feeding on sap. The excess fluid they imbibe is secreted as honeydew on which sooty mold tends to grow. The insects often have a mutualistic relationship with ants, which feed on the honeydew and protect them from predators. There are about 8,000 ...
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Animalia
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in which their body consists of a hollow sphere of cells, the blastula, during embryonic development. Over 1.5 million living animal species have been described—of which around 1 million are insects—but it has been estimated there are over 7 million animal species in total. Animals range in length from to . They have complex interactions with each other and their environments, forming intricate food webs. The scientific study of animals is known as zoology. Most living animal species are in Bilateria, a clade whose members have a bilaterally symmetric body plan. The Bilateria include the protostomes, containing animals such as nematodes, arthropods, flatworms, annelids and molluscs, and the deuterostomes, containing the echinoderms ...
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