Leaf beetles comprise about 40,000 described species. We should anticipate that over their long evolutionary history and great species diversity, leaf beetles have evolved many unusual traits. Thus, it is not so surprising the some leaf beetles may not eat leaves at all. One subfamily clade, the Cryptocephalinae (crypto=hidden, ceph=head), contains some members that live with…
Month: December 2015
Let’s paint the town red!
Scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccidae), a plant-sucking parasite of a cactus (Family Cactaceae), is wild-harvested or farmed and dried to make carmine. Carmine or carminic acid is used as a natural red dye. This insect (also called cochenille) may be the first New World domesticated insect, like silk moths and bees have been domesticated in the Old World.…