Kermes (insect)

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. The word "kermes" is derived from Turkish qirmiz or kirmizi (قرمز), "crimson" (both the colour and the dyestuff), itself deriving from Persian *کرمست (*kermest) via Proto-Indo-Iranian *kŕ̥miš, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷŕ̥mis (“worm”).

There are some 20 species, including:

• Kermes bacciformis Leonardi, 1908
• Kermes corticalis (Nassonov, 1908)
• Kermes echinatus (Balachowsky, 1953)
• Kermes gibbosus Signoret, 1875
• Kermes ilicis (Linnaeus, 1758)
• Kermes roboris (Fourcroy, 1785)
• Kermes vermilio Planchon, 1864