COLOUR-PKODUCING INSECTS. 43 



The Coccus cacti is a native of Mexico, where it 

 lives upon different species of Cactus or Opuntia. 

 The plants chiefly cultivated in hot climates for 

 breading 1 cochineal are the Cactus coccinellifer, C. 

 opuntia, C. tuna, C. paresxia, etc. The first of 

 these is also called Opuntia, coccinellifer a, and is 

 known as the Nopal, although it appears, from 

 Humboldt's account, that these plants are two dis- 

 tinct species, the latter being probably the Cactus 

 opuntia of Linnaeus. However, the insect thrives 

 equally well on both. 



The cochineal, which comes to us in the form 

 of a small shrivelled grain of a reddish colour, 

 covered with a sort of white down, was for- 

 merly only cultivated in Mexico. The female alone 

 is of any commercial value. The male enjoys 

 only a short life, and generally dies at the age of 

 one month ; its wings are as white as snow. The 

 females fix themselves firmly by means of their pro- 

 boscis on to the plant which serves them as a habi- 

 tation, and never quit this spot. Here they couple 

 with the male insects, and increase considerably in 

 size. Each female lays several thousand eggs, 

 which proceed through an aperture placed at the 

 extremity of the abdomen, and pass under the body 

 of the mother-insect to be hatched. The mother- 

 insect then dies, and her body dries up and forms a 

 kind of shell or envelope in which the eggs are 



