226 INSECTS AND MAN 



other examples from the same family, the lac insect and 

 the San Jose scale, that there is no need for reiteration. 

 The winged male dies after mating ; the resting female 

 deposits her offspring, according to some authorities, vivi- 

 parously, according to others, as eggs, but whichever is the 

 method the larvse are covered by the waxy secretion of 

 their mother, in which, though very active, they remain 

 for about nine days. At first they closely resemble their 

 mother, who, by the way, dies after oviposition ; but even 

 at this stage the sexes can be distinguished, for the antennae 

 of the males are composed of five segments, whilst those of 

 the females have six. In a fortnight, after several moults, 

 the Iarv89 are full grown. The male during growth sur- 

 rounds itself with a waxy covering from which it emerges, 

 in the winged, adult form, after the last moult; but the 

 female remains on the spot where she first plunged her 

 larval rostrum into the tissues of the prickly pear. 



The commercial history of this insect is, perhaps, of 

 greater interest than its life-history. A native of Mexico, 

 it was known and utilised by the Aztecs before America 

 was discovered by Europeans. Lopez de Gomara, in 1525, 

 first described cochineal, but he took it to be a seed, and it 

 was not till the time of Plumier, in 1666, that its true 

 insect nature was guessed; even then, however, many 

 scientists of that and later times persisted in believing 

 the seed theory, so, in 1729, Melchior de Ruusscher pub- 

 lished certain documents he had received from Mexico, 

 which once and for all settled the question. 



When the Spaniards conquered Mexico they recognised 

 that the cochineal industry would be a source of wealth, 

 and they at once tried to establish a monopoly, punishing 

 with death anyone detected attempting to take the female 

 insects out of the country. This monopoly was strictly 

 upheld, and, as long as Mexico remained a Spanish colony, 

 cochineal could be obtained through Spain and Spain alone. 

 That the industry was no mean one may be gathered from 



