Kermes | |
---|---|
Kermes echinatus | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hemiptera |
Suborder: | Sternorrhyncha |
Family: | Kermesidae |
Genus: | Kermes Latreille, 1798 |
Species | |
See text |
Kermes is a genus of scale insects in the order Hemiptera. They feed on the sap of oaks; the females produce a red dye, also called "kermes", that is the source of natural crimson.[1] The word "kermes" is derived from Turkish qirmiz or kirmizi (قرمز), "crimson" (both the colour and the dyestuff),[2] itself deriving from Persian *کرمست (*kermest) via Proto-Indo-Iranian *kŕ̥miš, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷŕ̥mis (“worm”).[3]
There are some 20 species,[4] including: