Kermes vermilio | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hemiptera |
Suborder: | Sternorrhyncha |
Family: | Kermesidae |
Genus: | Kermes |
Species: | K. vermilio
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Binomial name | |
Kermes vermilio
Planchon, 1864
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Kermes vermilio is a species of Kermes which feeds on trees. Some of the species are used by humans to make vermilion; though a mineral form used in many cultures and discovered at a similar time is cinnabar (crystallized HgS, mercury sulfide). [1] For details of further chemical alternatives see vermilion.
The word (and dye) crimson is a corruption-derivative of kermes – the organism's genus, chiefly referring to its other species. [2]