cochineal insect

American  

noun

1. any of various small red scale insects of the family Dactylopiidae, related to the mealybugs and characterized by an oval segmented body with white waxy plates and short legs and antennae: the source of cochineal.

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Etymology

Origin of cochineal insect

First recorded in 1795–1805

Example Sentences

Crimson and carmine, both of them ultimately from Old Spanish, are not quite doublets, but both belong to kermes, the cochineal insect, of Arabic origin.

From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Weekley, Ernest

The cochineal insect of Mexico and Central America is solely nurtured by the native growth of cacti.

From Aztec Land by Ballou, Maturin Murray

Meal′y-bug, a small species of cochineal insect covered with a while powdery substance resembling meal or flour.—adj.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various

This is the cochineal insect, but only the wild variety; the fine kind, which is used for dye, and conies from the province of Oajaca, miles off, is covered only with a mealy powder.

From Anahuac : or, Mexico and the Mexicans, Ancient and Modern by Tylor, Edward Burnett

Silkworms have been bred with success in some departments, and the cochineal insect is found wherever the conditions are favourable for the cactus.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 2 "Bohemia" to "Borgia, Francis" by Various