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The last week of 2023 is #invertefest so I’m sharing a recent print I made about carmine, a bright red pigment derived from carminic acid, traditionally harvested from cochineal, a sessile parasite on Opuntia cacti in South America, north through to Mexico & the southwest US. They are laboriously collected by brushing them off the pads of prickly pear cacti. 
The insect makes carminic acid to deter predators but it’s precisely what attracts people, who dry them out, extract the acid & mix it with Al or Ca salts to make carmine dye.
The dye was important historically for textiles (prior to invention of synthetic dyes in the 19th century). Aztec & Maya peoples were using it as early as the 2nd century BCE. It was used in Peru from the Middle Horizon period (600-1000 CE). Moctezuma II demanded yearly tributes of cochineal dye by the 15th century. 2/n
Aztecs used it in manuscripts. Colonial powers exploited the dye in the 16th century. It produced in places controlled by Spain and Portugal. It was the second most valuable export after silver. The British began using it to dye their red coats and were frustrated by the Mexican monopoly on trade. There have been various disastrous attempts to export the insects and dye production to places like Australia.
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Today, in an effort to avoid synthetic dyes, cochineal is used in food and cosmetics and it may be in your lipstick.
https://minouette.etsy.com/listing/1550051886
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