Depending on the variety, the colors may be bright shades of pink, red, orange ... If you want to enjoy the colorful flowers the prickly pear cactus has to offer, you'll want to make sure you ...

It's understandable why you might have mistaken your prickly pear for a Christmas cactus. Upon first look, they seem the same - both with a succulent-cacti form and orange or pink flowers.

An curved arrow pointing right. Cochineals are tiny bugs that live on prickly pear cactuses. The acid in their guts makes a red dye used in textiles, cosmetics, and foods like M&Ms and Yoplait yogurt.

Prickly pear cacti are breeding ... After mating on the cactus, the females lay eggs and the nymphs remain on the plant to feed on its juices. “They produce red carminic acid as a defense ...