Tag: Tempe

Roommate trouble.

I just evicted this bad boy from my bedroom. Scorpions are fast, but they are feeble climbers. I scooped him up in a plastic tub and re-introduced him to his natural habitat – the outdoors. He wasn’t contributing rent anyway. For context, he was about 6.5 cm long (2.5 inches) with tail fully extended. 

Roommate trouble.

I just evicted this bad boy from my bedroom. Scorpions are fast, but they are feeble climbers. I scooped him up in a plastic tub and re-introduced him to his natural habitat – the outdoors. He wasn’t contributing rent anyway. For context, he was about 6.5 cm long (2.5 inches) with tail fully extended. 

Cochineal (Dactylopius coccus) on Indian-fig prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica), Tempe, Arizona. 

My neighbor’s ornamental Indian-fig prickly pear is suffering a mild infestation of cochineal scale insects. Each cottony cluster on the paddles conceals a colony of dozens of insects in various growth stages. Like aphids, the cochineals pierce the cactus’s skin to extract moisture and nutrients from the host plant. Fortunately, this is a sturdy, mature cactus, not likely to suffer any serious damage from the insects. 

The insects are farmed and harvested commercially as a source of carmine for dyeing fabrics, tinting cosmetics, and coloring foods. Even when gently removing a scale cluster I crushed a few insects, instantly dyeing my fingertips a deep carmine red. 

Cochineal (Dactylopius coccus) on Indian-fig prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica), Tempe, Arizona. 

My neighbor’s ornamental Indian-fig prickly pear is suffering a mild infestation of cochineal scale insects. Each cottony cluster on the paddles conceals a colony of dozens of insects in various growth stages. Like aphids, the cochineals pierce the cactus’s skin to extract moisture and nutrients from the host plant. Fortunately, this is a sturdy, mature cactus, not likely to suffer any serious damage from the insects. 

The insects are farmed and harvested commercially as a source of carmine for dyeing fabrics, tinting cosmetics, and coloring foods. Even when gently removing a scale cluster I crushed a few insects, instantly dyeing my fingertips a deep carmine red.