Why did producing cochineal dye require so many insects?

Producing cochineal dye requires a vast number of insects because the coloring agent, carminic acid, is found in relatively small quantities within the bodies of the female Dactylopius coccus scale insects.12

To obtain a significant amount of the final product, a high volume of raw material must be harvested and processed. Estimates indicate that it takes approximately 70,000 insects to produce one pound of the dye, while other sources suggest that one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cochineal requires about 200,000 insects.12

The process involves brushing the sedentary female insects from prickly pear cacti, killing them through heat exposure, and then extracting the carminic acid by boiling the dried, pulverized bodies in water. Because the dye is derived from these tiny, individual organisms, the sheer scale of production is a direct result of the biological limitations of how much pigment a single insect can provide.132