| Polish cochineal | |
|---|---|
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| Life cycle of the Polish cochineal inBreyne'sHistoria naturalis Cocci Radicum... (1731) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hemiptera |
| Suborder: | Sternorrhyncha |
| Family: | Margarodidae |
| Genus: | Porphyrophora |
| Species: | P. polonica |
| Binomial name | |
| Porphyrophora polonica | |
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| Area where the Polish cochineal was found in commercial quantities[1] | |
| Synonyms [2] | |
Polish cochineal (Porphyrophora polonica, Margarodes polonicus), also known asPolish carmine scales (Polish:czerwiec polski), is ascale insect formerly used to produce acrimsondye of the same name, colloquially known as "Saint John's blood". Thelarvae ofP. polonica aresessileparasites living on the roots of variousherbs – especially those of theperennial knawel (Polish:czerwiec trwały) – growing on the sandy soils ofCentral Europe and other parts ofEurasia. Before the development ofaniline,alizarin, and other synthetic dyes, the insect was of great economic importance, although in the 16th century, its use was in decline after the introduction of cheaper dyes imported from the Americas during the period of great discoveries of the New World by the Spanish and Portuguese explorers and conquistadores. In Europe before the 16 th century, the dye extract from Polish cochineal was one of the main Poland’s export products in antiquity and the Middle Ages until the 16 century when the period of Spanish and Portuguese explorations of the New World, from which the cheaper dyes from Southern America were being imported to Europe. Dye extract from Polish cochineal was one of the main Polish export products in antiquity and the Middle Ages and red dyes were historically associated with Poland. White and red are traditional and historical national colours of Poland, Polish royal banners and the Flag of Poland.
In mid-July, the female Polish cochineal lays approximately 600-700 eggs, encased with a white waxyootheca, in the ground. When thelarvae hatch in late August or early September, they do not leave the egg case but remain inside until the end of winter. In late March or early April, the larvae emerge from the ground to feed for a short time on the low-growing leaves of the host plant before returning underground to feed on the plant's roots. At this point, the larvae undergoecdysis, shedding theirexoskeletons together with their legs andantennae, and theyencyst by forming outer protective coatings (cysts) within the root tissues.[4]
The cysts are small dark red or violet bubbles clustered on the host plant's roots. Female cysts are 3–4 millimetres (0.12–0.16 in) in diameter. Males are half the size of their female counterparts and fewer in number, with only one male per 500 females. The cysts undergo ecdysis a number of times. When the male larva reaches the third-instar developmental stage, it forms a delicate whitecocoon and transforms into apupa in early June. In late June or early July, females, which areneotenous and retain their larval form, re-emerge from the ground and slowly climb to the top of the host plant, where they wait until winged adult males, with characteristic plumes at the end of theirabdomens, leave the cocoons and join them a few days later. Maleimagines (adult insects) do not feed and die shortly aftermating, while their female counterparts return underground to lay eggs. Afteroviposition, the female insects shrink and die.[4]
The Polish cochineal lives onherbaceous plants growing in sandy and arid, infertile soils. Its primaryhost plant is theperennial knawel (Scleranthus perennis), but it has also been known to feed on plants of 20 othergenera, includingmouse-ear hawkweed (Hieracium pilosella),bladder campion (Silene inflata),velvet bent (Agrostis canina),Caragana,[4]smooth rupturewort (Herniaria glabra),strawberry (Fragaria), and cinquefoil (Potentilla).[3]
The insect was once commonly found throughout thePalearctic[4] and was recognised acrossEurasia, from France and England[3] to China, but it was mainly inCentral Europe where it was common enough to make its industrial use economically viable. Excessive economic exploitation as well as the shrinking and degradation of its habitat have made the Polish cochineal a rare species. In 1994, it was included in theUkrainian Red Book ofendangered species.[5] InPoland, where it was still common in the 1960s, there is insufficient data to determine its conservation status, and no protective measures are in place.[4]
AncientSlavs developed a method of obtaining red dye from the larvae of the Polish cochineal. Despite the labor-intensive process of harvesting the cochineal and a relatively modest yield, the dye continued to be a highly sought-after commodity and a popular alternative tokermes throughout the Middle Ages until the age of discoveries of the New World, from where the Spanish and Portuguese explorers and conquistadors brought cheaper dyes from Southern America.
Similar to some other red dyes obtained from scale insects, the red coloring is derived fromcarminic acid with traces ofkermesic acid. The Polish cochineal carminic acid content is approximately 0.6% of the insect's dried body weight.[6] The insects were harvested shortly before the female larvae reached maturity, i.e. in late June, usually aroundSaint John the Baptist's day (June 24), hence the dye's folk name, Saint John's blood. The harvesting process involved uprooting the host plant and picking the female larvae, averaging approximately ten insects from each plant.[7] In Poland, including present-dayUkraine, and elsewhere in Europe, plantations were operated in order to deal with the high toll on the host plants.[1] The larvae were killed with boiling water orvinegar and dried in the sun or in an oven, ground, and dissolved insourdough or in light rye beer calledkvass[8] in order to remove fat. The extract could then be used for dyeingsilk,wool,cotton, orlinen.[8] The dyeing process requires roughly 3-4 oz of dye perpound (180-250 g perkilogram) of silk[7] and one pound of dye to color almost 20 pounds (50 g per kilogram) of wool.[8]
Polish cochineal was widely traded in Europe during the Middle Ages and theRenaissance. In the 15th and 16th centuries, along with grain, timber, and salt, it was one ofPoland's chief exports, mainly to southernGermany and northernItaly as well as toFrance,England, theOttoman Empire, andArmenia.[7] In Poland, the cochineal trade was mostly monopolized by Jewish merchants,[7] who bought the dye from peasants inRed Ruthenia and other regions of Poland and Lithuania. The merchants shipped the dye to major Polish cities such asKraków, Danzig (Gdańsk), andPoznań. From there, the merchandise was exported to wholesalers in Breslau (Wrocław),Nuremberg,Frankfurt,Augsburg,Venice,[7] and other destinations. The Polish cochineal trade was a lucrative business for the intermediaries; according toMarcin of Urzędów (1595), one pound of Polish cochineal cost between four and five Venetian pounds. In terms of quantities, the trade reached its peak in the 1530s. In 1534, 1963stones (about 30metric tons) of the dye were sold in Poznań alone.[7]
The advent of cheaper Mexicancochineal led to an abrupt slump in the Polish cochineal trade, and the 1540s saw a steep decline in quantities of the red dye exported from Poland. In 1547, Polish cochineal disappeared from the Poznań customs registry; aVolhynian clerk noted in 1566 that the dye no longer paid in Gdańsk. Perennial knawel plantations were replaced with cereal fields or pastures for raising cattle. Polish cochineal, which until then was mostly used by the rich nobles and the royals and as an export product, continued to be used locally by the peasants who collected it; it was employed not only for dyeing fabric but also as avodka colorant, an ingredient infolk medicine, crafts or even for decorative coloring of horses' tails.[7]
With thepartitions of Poland at the end of the 18th century, vast markets inRussia andCentral Asia opened to Polish cochineal, which became an export product again – this time, to the East. In the 19th century,Bukhara,Uzbekistan, became the principal Polish cochineal trading center in Central Asia; from there the dye was shipped toKashgar inXinjiang, andKabul andHerat inAfghanistan. It is possible that the Polish dye was used to manufacture some of the famousoriental rugs.[1]
The earliest known scientific study of the Polish cochineal is found in theHerbarz Polski (PolishHerbal) byMarcin of Urzędów (1595), where it was described as "small red seeds" that grow under plant roots, becoming "ripe" in April and from which a little "bug" emerges in June.[7] The first scientific comments by non-Polish authors were written bySegerius (1670) andvon Bernitz (1672).[1] In 1731,Johann Philipp Breyne, wroteHistoria naturalis Cocci Radicum Tinctorii quod polonicum vulgo audit (translated into English during the same century), the first major treatise about the insect, including the results of his research on its physiology and life cycle.[7] In 1934, Polish biologistAntoni Jakubski wroteCzerwiec polski (Polish cochineal), a monograph taking into account both the insect's biology and historical role.[citation needed]
The historical importance of the Polish cochineal is still reflected in most modernSlavic languages where the words for the color red and for the month of June both derive from theProto-Slavic*čьrvь (probably pronounced[t͡ʃĭrwĭ]), meaning "a worm" or "larva".[9] (See examples in the table below.)
InCzech, as well asold Bulgarian, this is true for both June and July, the two months when harvest of the insect's larvae was possible. In modernPolish,czerwiec is a word for June, as well as for the Polish cochineal (czerwiec polski) and its host plant, the perennial knawel (czerwiec trwały).[citation needed]
| English | Belarusian | Ukrainian | Polish | Czech | Bulgarian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| worm, larva | чарвяк charvyak | черв'як cherv'yak | czerw | červ | червей chervey |
| red(adj.) | чырвоны chyrvony | червоний chervonyy | czerwony czerwień | červený | червен cherven |
| June | чэрвень chervyen' | червень cherven' | czerwiec | červen | червеник chervenik |
| July | červenec | чръвенъ chraven | |||
| Polish cochineal | чэрвек chervyeк | червець chervets' | czerwiec polski |
| Techniques |  | |
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| Types of dyes | ||
| Traditional textile dyes | ||
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| Craft dyes | ||
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