# Cochineal bug (*Dactylopius confusus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/cochineal-bug  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The cochineal bug (Dactylopius confusus) is a species in the family Dactylopiidae, order Hemiptera. Source checklists list it for 13 countries, including Algeria, Bahamas and Cuba.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | Not recorded |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | Not recorded |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | Not recorded |
| Young per litter or clutch | Not recorded |
| Conservation status | Not recorded |
| Countries on record | 13 countries |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Arthropoda
- class: Insecta
- order: Hemiptera
- family: Dactylopiidae
- genus: Dactylopius
- species: *Dactylopius confusus* (Cockerell, 1893)

Synonyms: *Acanthococcus confusus*, *Coccus cacti confusus*, *Coccus confusus*, *Coccus confusus subsp. capensis*, *Coccus tomentosus confusus*, *Coccus tomentosus subsp. newsteadi*, *Dactylopius confuses*, *Dactylopius confusus newsteadi*, *Dactylopius newsteadi*, *Pseudococcus confusus*, *Pseudococcus confusus newsteadi*, *Pseudococcus tomentosus newsteadi*

## Countries on record

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

Algeria, Bahamas, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Haiti, Mauritius, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe

## Common questions

### Where does the cochineal bug live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the cochineal bug for 13 countries, including Algeria, Bahamas, Cuba, Egypt and Ethiopia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

### What kind of animal is the cochineal bug?

The cochineal bug (Dactylopius confusus) belongs to the family Dactylopiidae in the order Hemiptera.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5), CC BY 4.0, v1. Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1), CC0 1.0, 1.0. Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Cochineal bug (Dactylopius confusus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/cochineal-bug