230 INSECTS AND MAN 



a temperature of about 20 C. This proceeding hastens the 

 advent of the larvae, which, on their first appearance, show 

 great activity, but eventually settle down on the surrounding 

 linen. The fragments of linen are then carried by night, 

 and fastened to the prickly pears, and without delay the 

 larval insects affix themselves to the plant and begin 

 feeding ; the linen, however, is left on the plant for some 

 time, to give shade to the larvae and to keep them dry. In 

 three months the cochineal insects are fully developed and 

 harvest time is at hand. Women do the work, some 

 breaking off the branches, others brushing them, in order 

 to remove the insects, which are then spread in thin layers 

 and dried in the sun or subjected to a temperature of about 

 40 C. After drying, the insects are cleaned from portions 

 of their food plants and other impurities and then are put 

 on the market as plateada or as madres. The former, 

 which are in the majority and therefore cheaper, are the 

 young unmated females ; the latter are females which have 

 produced young. 



At the present day, the cochineal insect is cultivated 

 mainly in Honduras and the Canary Islands, and, though 

 the industry has languished considerably since the dis- 

 covery of aniline dyes, its fall is as nothing, compared to 

 the fall in price of the commodity, which at the present 

 day is less than a fifth of what it was in the heyday of 

 the industry. Of the uses of cochineal we have spoken in 

 another chapter, but the least sentimental of us must 

 regret that a beautiful red dye, once universally used and 

 around which hangs such an atmosphere of romance, is 

 now mainly of service in the decoration of fancy cakes. 



A Wax Scale 

 Under the heading " Insects and Medicine " we have 



O * 



mentioned Pela wax an important commodity prepared 

 from the scale insect, Ericerus pela. The tawny-coloured 

 male is of relatively large size, and is possessed of 



