The Origins of Cochineal

The most famous one is cochineal. It feeds on a very particular kind of cactus, probably pear, and it has to be spread onto new leaves. This was done by Aztecs and Inca civilizations using a fox for brush. Once leaves are infected, they kind of grow this... It looks like a bloom,. They're so small, they don't... There were quite a lot of arguments about whether they were in fact beetles, or were they in fact grains or bits of pollen. And when you kind of scrape this off and squish it, you get this kind of bright red, jammy substance of... Which is squished bug.