Cactus is easy to take care of, but the low maintenance plant can develop issues that will need your attention. Find out what ...

With Morocco’s prickly pear season approaching, renewed outbreaks of the invasive cochineal insect have been detected in ...

This article was originally published with the title “ Cochineal Cultivation in Teneriffe ” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 13 No. 30 (April 1858), p. 237 doi:10.1038 ...

Adult female and immature cochineal bugs are flightless. But adult males have wings and can fly. After mating on the cactus, the females lay eggs and the nymphs remain on the plant to feed on its ...

Tiny cochineal bugs like to drink sap from cactus. If you squish them, you get a scarlet surprise. Tuna found in the desert? OK, fair enough: that’s tuna, as in the ...

About 2000 years ago, Aztec people had been using cochineal insects to colour their textiles. It takes about 1,30,000 insects to produce a kilogramme of powdered dye.

Standard Group Plc HQ Office, The Standard Group Center,Mombasa Road. P.O Box 30080-00100,Nairobi, Kenya. Telephone number: 0203222111, 0719012111 ...

The cochineal is a tiny insect deeply rooted in the history of Oaxaca, Mexico. Female cochineals spend most of their lives with their heads buried in juicy cactus pads, eating and growing.

Garcia's family specializes in the production of cochineal dye that comes from the crushed bodies of tiny female insects that contain carminic acid and feed on the pads of nopal cactus plants.