Good examples of animal dyes are cochineal, which is a brilliant red dye produced from insects known as coccus cacti.
Kermes, cochineals and lac come in the market in the form of little dark coloured grains which, when ground up in hot water, gives a red solution called carmine, containing a considerable amount of a colouring matter known as caraminic acid.
Kermes consists of dried bodies of a variety of insects which lives on a species of oak.
Lac another important animal source also gives red colour. The dye is obtained from the body of a small insect called coccus laccac.
Tyrian purple is another dye from mollusks. Tyrian purple is the most highly prized ancient dye stuff, obtained from the juices of certain species of snails found in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. It is tremendously costly, as 12,000 animals were needed to obtain one gram of dye stuff. Thus the term royal purple or born to purple were adopted as indication that only the wealthy could afford the dye.
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