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

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

The crimson portion owes its hue to being steeped in a bath with the little cochineal insect; and the blue to indigo.

From Tales of the Toys, Told by Themselves by Broderip, Frances Freeling

A bulbous root they know of dyes brown, the cochineal insect red, and the bark of a tree yellow.

From Through Five Republics on Horseback, Being an Account of Many Wanderings in South America by Ray, G. Whitfield

The Mexicans wove many kinds of cotton cloth, sometimes using as a dye the rich crimson of the cochineal insect.

From The Story of Extinct Civilizations of the West by Anderson, Robert Edward

The cochineal insect crawls upon the cactus leaf, and huge winged ants build their clay nests upon the branches of the acacia-tree.

From The Rifle Rangers by Reid, Mayne