How it began
Cochineal is a small insect that lives on prickly pear cactus and produces a vivid red pigment. Indigenous peoples harvested it for thousands of years to dye their own textiles, and it was in use in Mesoamerica as early as the second century BCE. The dye came originally from the valleys of Oaxaca, in present-day Mexico. Mixtec, Zapotec, Aztec and Otomi peoples used it, and growers raised the insects deliberately in cactus gardens to increase the yield.
How it works
Farmers infest cactus pads with the insects or hang small baskets of fertile females, called Zapotec nests, on host plants. The insects are collected by hand at about 90 days old, killed with hot water, sunlight, steam or oven heat, and dried to about 30 percent of their body weight. The color comes from carminic acid, typically 17 to 24 percent of the dried insect. It takes about 70,000 insects to make one pound of dye.
How it spread
Cochineal was imported to Spain in the 1520s and became New Spain's second most valuable export after silver. It was traded on the London and Amsterdam exchanges and reached India by the 17th century. It colored the red coats of English soldiers and the capes of Catholic clergy. In Europe it replaced kermes, the earlier insect red. Spain held a monopoly until Mexican independence, after which production grew in Guatemala and the Canary Islands.
Where it stands today
Demand fell sharply in the middle of the 19th century with the arrival of artificial dyes such as alizarin. The collapse caused a significant financial shock in Spain, and the trade had almost totally disappeared by the 20th century. Cochineal is still used as a fabric dye, a cosmetics colorant in products such as lipstick, a food coloring, a pharmaceutical colorant and a laboratory stain. Peru is the largest producer, at about 200 tons a year as of 2005, followed by Mexico, Chile, Argentina and the Canary Islands.
