Look for this meat worm! The hottest fashion item next year, and you have eaten it

Last week, Pantone Inc. announced its color of the year for 2023: Viva Magenta , a shade of magenta . Pantone describes it as a vibrant color that represents bravery and fearlessness.

"Magenta" refers to magenta, so why not add "Viva" and call it "vibrant magenta"? The RGB is probably (172, 53, 75). The RGB provided by each color website is slightly different, but it doesn't matter. You can use the annual color in next year's end-of-term and quarterly PPTs! | Pantone

But what does this have to do with your species calendar...

The connection lies in a little bug. According to Pantone, the color of the year, Viva Magenta, is inspired by the red color of the cochineal insect , "the most precious of natural dyes and one of the strongest and brightest known in the world."

That's it｜eol.org

This is the fleshy worm that's about to take over the fashion world—and, chances are, you've eaten it (and not just in lipstick).

This little bug, why?

Cochineal (Dactylopius coccus) is native to Mexico and is an insect of the genus Cochinchinensis in the family Cochinchinensis of the order Hemiptera. They usually parasitize on cacti and feed on sap. Male insects have wings and can fly; female insects hardly move, and their round bodies secrete white waxy appendages that resemble hairs. If they burst out in a concentrated manner, it will be as spectacular as blowing snow.

Cochineal parasites on some species of cactus. The males have wings (1), the females do not (2) | Lydekker, R. 1879 The Royal Natural History

When these female insects are stressed, they produce carminic acid (molecular formula C22H20O13). After purification, carminic acid can be used to obtain scarlet cochineal red , which is an anthraquinone pigment with good light and heat stability and antioxidant properties. It is a natural pigment that can be used in both food and cosmetics . In addition to cochineal, other members of the genus Cochinochae can also produce carminic acid.

Female cochineal insects secrete bright red carminic acid when they are stressed｜Antonio Camacho / biodiversidadvirtual.org

Ancient Mexicans knew how to extract precious cochineal red from cochineal insects for dyeing, painting, etc. The rulers of the Aztec dynasty even required their subjects to pay a certain amount of cochineal red as tribute every year.

During the colonial period, this stunning red successfully attracted the attention of Spanish colonists. They introduced it to Europe, and it soon caused a sensation - people found that this red was brighter and more attractive than any natural red dye used before . For a time, clothes dyed with cochineal became a new favorite symbolizing the status of the nobility. The trend then intensified, and cochineal influenced and changed people's aesthetics. The stunning strokes on famous paintings, the solemn robes of cardinals, and even the red military uniforms of the British were all masterpieces of cochineal.

Today, there are still painters who are keen on using cochineal in their paintings｜Fabiola Martinez / ilivewithart.ca (2016)

Cochineal soon became the second largest export commodity in the Mexican colonies. In order to maintain their monopoly in the market, the Spanish intensified their exploitation of the indigenous people to produce this dye, while at the same time strictly guarding against it, keeping the cultivation methods of cochineal a secret and even releasing smoke bombs, claiming that it was extracted from the fruit of a certain cactus.

Indians harvesting cochineal, holding deer tails｜José Antonio de Alzate y Ramírez (1777)

It was not until the late 19th century that the advent of madder red and some artificial pigments slowly brought this trend to an end. For a while, people used cochineal red just to maintain tradition rather than for commercial needs. But in the mid-to-late 20th century, concerns about the safety of artificial pigments arose, and cochineal red, as a natural pigment, rose again and became a new favorite in the food and cosmetics industries.

At present, Peru is the largest exporter of cochineal red, while my country mainly relies on imports for cochineal red.

Carmine red lipstick shades (bottom)｜MakeupAlley

Can it be used and eaten?

Cochineal can be used as a food additive. Only a very small number of people are allergic to cochineal, and compared to foods that are more likely to cause allergies (such as peanuts), cochineal can be said to be quite safe.

Look at the food ingredient list, Carmine is cochineal (food additive code: E120)｜Windell Oskay / flickr

But Starbucks has also been involved in a lawsuit because of this bug.

In 2012, in order to reduce the use of artificial synthetic pigments, Starbucks switched to using more natural and safe cochineal red to make strawberry frappuccino and desserts. Unexpectedly, this move triggered strong protests from some vegetarian organizations. They believed that Starbucks deceived consumers by adding pigments made from "beetle corpses", making them inadvertently eat meat.

Out of respect for the wishes of its customers, Starbucks eventually replaced cochineal red, which had no safety or quality issues , with lycopene. However, cochineal is not a beetle, and cochineal red does not come from beetle corpses. Cochineal is quite wronged...

Beetles belong to the order Coleoptera, while cochineals belong to the order Hemiptera. Other members of the same order include cicadas and stink bugs. If you think about their appearance, they are definitely not beetles.｜Dick Culbert / flickr

There is another coloring agent used in food additives, whose name is only one letter different from cochineal red - Ponceau 4R.

Carmine is a synthetic pigment (other common synthetic pigments include sunset yellow and brilliant blue), which is often added to candies, drinks and pickles to enrich the color and increase appetite. Because of its side effects on the human body, China has strict restrictions on the use of carmine .

The "rouge" commonly mentioned in ancient times has nothing to do with cochineal, after all, cochineal was still in Central America at that time. Ancient rouge mainly came from the "red and blue" produced in the Western Regions, that is, the safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) of the genus Carthamus in the Asteraceae family. The petals of this plant are used as raw materials. After acid-base chromatography extraction, safflower glycosides can be obtained, and then further mixed with other materials to make rouge powder.

It's called red flower, but it's actually yellow. ｜Pseudoanas (talk) / Wikimedia Commons

Nature is never short of colors

Whether it is cochineal red from South America or rouge from ancient China, they are actually fashions that come from nature. It is no wonder that Pantone's executive director said when introducing the color of the year: "In this technological age, we hope to draw inspiration from nature and real things ."

Pantone's introduction to Viva Magenta is also a combination of man and nature (but the bug in the lower left corner is probably not a cochineal) | Pantone

In fact, if you look back at Pantone’s Color of the Year in recent years, you’ll find that nature has always been an indispensable element.

The 2022 color of the year is Very Peri , a reference to the color of the Vinca minor plant.

The English name of "Very Periwinkle" comes from the English name of Vinca rosea, Lesser Periwinkle, not the more common reddish Vinca rosea｜Ryan Kaldari / Wikimedia Commons; Pantone

The 2019 Color of the Year is Living Coral , which represents a vibrant ecosystem with living coral reefs. The colorful coral reefs provide shelter for many marine creatures. At the same time, this color of the year also conveys an attitude of environmental protection.

2019 Color of the Year Living Coral｜Pantone

The inspiration from nature will probably never run out, after all, nature contains all colors. Just think about it, if someone takes out a fashion item next year and tells you "this is the popular color of the year", and you slowly take out a cochineal , how cool is that...!

The comments section is open for nominations for "My Favorite Natural Color"👇

Author: Attack of the Succulents, Mai Mai

This article comes from the Species Calendar, welcome to forward

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