As any self-respecting vegan knows, carmine food colouring comes from the cochineal insect.

In Mexico we have the cochineal insect, which is a scale bug that lives on a cactus that grows in Mexico.

There is, for instance, the cochineal insect (Coccus), which, in its adult state, has a motionless, shield-shaped body, attached to the leaves of plants.

Here is the picture of a cactus with cochineal insects upon it.

A dye stuff consisting of female cochineal insects killed and dried by heat.