Medieval and Manuscripts

Armenian cochineal

The Armenian cochineal (Porphyrophora hamelii), also known as the Ararat cochineal or Ararat scale, is a scale insect indigenous to the Ararat plain and Aras (Araks) River valley in the Armenian Highlands, including eastern Turkey. It was historically used to produce an eponymous crimson carmine dyestuff known in Armenia as vordan karmir (Armenian: որդան կարմիր, literally "worm's red") and in Persia as kirmiz. The species is critically endangered within Armenia. P. hamelii is in a different taxonomic family from the cochineal found in the Americas. Both insects produce red dyestuffs that are also commonly called cochineal.

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See also

• ▸Code of Justinian
• ▸Diascia rigescens
• ▸Epiphany (holiday)

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