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Dear Craig:

I have a few prickly pear that have a white fungus-looking thing growing on them. They look like dripping cotton. Can you tell me what these are? Should I destroy the plants that have this on them so they don’t infect my other cactus?

Todd in Maricopa

Dear Todd,

The dripping, cotton-looking thing growing on your prickly pear is not a fungus at all. They are a small insect of the Coccidae scale family known as cochineal scale. These scales infect several native species of cacti usually in the opuntia family, such as Santa Rita (purple prickly pear), Engleman prickly pear, and several types of cholla.

Although they look awful, they do little harm to your cacti and can be washed away with a high-pressure nozzle from your hose. The use of a pesticide to kill the bug could cause more damage to your prickly pear and your garden than the bug itself. The cochineal scale is slow-moving and a simple but thorough washing should keep the insect away for several months.

According to the article “Red Scales in the Sunset” from UCLA’s Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden Web site, at one time this scale insect was the most desired export from America next to gold. If you crush these bugs, they will exude a maroon-purple liquid. The dye made from this scale was more intense than any scarlet color of the Old World.

When the Spaniards arrived in Middle America, they were amazed by the rich scarlet-red color of cochineal. In the 1500s Spain established a monopoly on the trade of this small insect. Small landowners producing cochineal became wealthy. Textiles dyed from this insect became the rage in Europe. Export demands grew and it wasn’t until 250 years later, in the 1770s that the French broke Spain’s monopoly by smuggling cacti containing cochineal to Haiti. Later production spread to other countries that could successfully sustain growing the opuntia cacti and its insect host.

The pigment of this dye became a great source for food coloring. Little did consumers know that when they were biting into sausages, shrimps, pies and candies, they were actually eating these fuzzy little creatures. Even cosmetics, such as lipstick and rouge contained cochineal scale. With the introduction of synthetic food coloring, the cochineal became less in demand. But recently there has been research indicating that red synthetic dye #2 and red dye #40 may be carcinogenic, and cochineal is being reconsidered as a safe food coloring for consumer products.

So the next time you apply lipstick or bit into a bright-red maraschino cherry, you very well could be consuming the pest that is plaguing your prickly pear.

Listen to Craig Saturday mornings from 6 to 7 a.m. on KFNX 1100AM am talk radio. And watch for the Carefree Gardener television show this fall on NBC, channel 12. E‑mail landscape questions to www.thecarefreegardener.tv, or fax (623) 742‑7216. Past articles can be found at www.thecarefreegardener.tv.

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