The Frost is currently hosting an exhibit developed by students and professors from the course ART 433: Sustainable Studio, from the College of Arts and Architecture. This exhibit bridges entomology, art, and sustainability through the exploration of the range of naturally produced colors using cochineal.
Cochineal (Dactylopius coccus, Costa 1835) are small, and basically immobile plant-sucking insects that attach to and feed on prickly pear cacti in North and South America. They are related to other true bugs, like cicadas, aphids, and plant hoppers (they are NOT beetles, like some resources might tell you!). Cochineal produce a pigment used in food and cosmetic industries and can be found in items like candies, juices, popsicles, lipstick, and eyeshadows, among other things. The pigment is called carmine — but also can show up in ingredients lists as crimson lake, carmine lake, natural red 4, C.I. 75470, E120, or cochineal extract.
This bright red color comes from a compound called carminic acid, which is present in the hemolymph and muscles of cochineal. Carminic acid benefits cochineal by serving as a defense against predation. Because they are immotile and cannot run or hide from predators, predator deterrence is a survival strategy. Carminic acid has been proven to be extremely unpalatable to ants, and at concentrations similar to that present in cochineal, ants are completely deterred [1]. Given this degree of deterrence, it is likely that carminic acid successfully deters other predators as well!
In addition to exploring cochineal as a non-toxic, biodegradable alternative to standard dyes, this exhibit also promotes taking an active role in the social welfare of community members by using recycled fabrics purchased from Scraps and Skeins, proceeds of which benefit social programs offered through Strawberry Fields Inc.
Students in the course visited the Frost museum to become familiar with the exhibit space and to chat about the biology of some insects that produce materials used in art (such as silk moths, galling insects, and scale insects). The students and faculty then went back to the studio to brainstorm their exhibition, and returned to install it at the end of the Fall Semester. The exhibit “Cochineal” is open for viewing at the Frost Entomological Museum and will be on display for the spring!
[1] Eisner, Thomas, et al. “Red Cochineal Dye (Carminic Acid): Its Role in Nature.” Science, vol. 208, no. 4447, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1980, pp. 1039–42, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1683637.
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