Cochineal beetles to craft red dye (carmine)

Cochineal is an insect that lives on prickly pear cactuses. They are the source of carmine, a natural food-safe red dye. Even though it is an animal in real life, I am suggesting a new item, not a new mob. It won't move in the game like an animal or mob.

Cochineal shows up as white dots on (the upcoming) prickly pear cactus. When you break the cactus block it should drop the cactus not the cochineal so it doesn't clutter your inventory. If you want the cochineal, you can harvest it like sweet berries and it drops 1–3 cochineal. Or maybe its more appropriate to use a tool like shears to harvest them.

You use 4 cochineal to craft 1 red dye (called carmine, not that the distinction would matter in the game). Another way to implement it is you put cochineal in a furnace to "bake" it like sea pickles so 1 cochineal yields 1 red dye.

Cochineal comes pre-generated on prickly pear cactuses so you don't have to worry about white dots spawning on your cactuses or spreading. You can "plant" cochineal on a prickly pear cactus block and let it "grow" to harvest 3 later on.

You can also discard them in a composter.