''Kermes'' is a genus of gall-like

scale insect Scale insects are small insects of the Order (biology), order Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. Of dramatically variable appearance and extreme sexual dimorphism, they comprise the infraorder Coccomorpha which is considered a more convenient g ...

s in the family Kermesidae. They feed on the sap of

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

s; the females produce a red

dye Juan de Guillebon, better known by his stage name DyE, is a French musician. He is known for the music video of the single "Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical ele ...

, also called " kermes", that is the source of natural

crimson Crimson is a rich, deep red color, inclining to purple. It originally meant the color of the kermes dye produced from a scale insect, '' Kermes vermilio'', but the name is now sometimes also used as a generic term for slightly bluish-red col ...

. 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”). The first

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'' 'form, likeness') is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, which occurs between each moult (''ecdysis'') until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to ...

s are called "crawlers". They are less than long, salmon-colored, and wingless with well-developed legs. As adults, they demonstrate significant

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

. Males are

gnat GNAT is a free-software compiler for the Ada programming language which forms part of the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC). It supports all versions of the language, i.e. Ada 2012, Ada 2005, Ada 95 and Ada 83. Originally its ...

-like with fragile wings, while females are bulbous with reduced legs and antennas, and are easily mistaken for buds or

gall Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to benign tumors or war ...

s. 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

References

External links

Conservation and Art Material Encyclopedia Online
Kermesidae Sternorrhyncha genera {{Coccoidea-stub