'Cochineal' was an elderly
female HiveWing who was mentioned in The Hive Queen. She was Scarab's
sister, the mother of Wasp|Ex-Queen Wasp and her seven sisters. She
ruled as queen of the HiveWings before Wasp took the Dragon
royalty|throne.

## Personality

Cochineal was described by Hawthorn as deceitful and power-hungry, while
Lady Scarab stated that she was an expert liar. However, Cochineal was
not as bad as Queen Wasp, or in Lady Scarab's exact words, "was [not]
any picnic as a ruler, but at least she wasn't a dictatorial
zombie-making maniac." Lady Scarab stated to her niece that Cochineal
would have hated to see what Wasp had done to the HiveWings and would
have disapproved, if not hated her daughter's tyranny, suggesting she
greatly loved and cared about her tribe.

Cochineal was also said to have respected the other tribes' monarchies,
meaning she also was most likely fine with just ruling only one tribe
and was not power-hungry enough to go to war for more power. This also
may mean she had a good relationship with her sister and had been
trusted by her mother to take the throne from her.

## Biography

### The Lost Continent Prophecy

#### The Hive Queen

Lady Scarab mentioned Cochineal in a conversation with Cricket, saying
that she was told that the Book of Clearsight said that Cochineal must
be the next queen. Lady Scarab also said that her sister was a much
better liar than she was, which was likely why she was chosen by their
mother. According to Lady Scarab, Cochineal's daughters and Jewel (THQ)|Lady Jewel could not be Othermind|mind-controlled by Wasp as they
were hatched around the same time as Wasp.

#### The Poison Jungle

She was mentioned briefly by Hawthorn when he was recounting the events
of the Tree Wars, comparing her to Wasp.

## References

TPJ Category:Mentioned characters Category:Deceased Category:Queens