Cactus moth problems
Anne Kilmer
viceroy at GATE.NET
Thu May 16 12:37:15 EDT 2002
Forgive the cross posting.
Posted by Florida Pest Alert:
Although many countries, like Australia, view the cactus moth,
Cactoblastis cactorum (Berg), as a beneficial insect, in the United
States it is also a pest species. Eventually it may affect the food
supply in Texas and into Mexico where the fruit and young vegetative
parts of Opuntia spp. form part of the staple diet of humans and where
chopped plants serve as cattle fodder in times of drought.
USDA-APHIS is launching an effort to track the progress of the cactus
moth throughout the Southeast in hopes of controlling its progress.
Dr. Ken Bloem, USDA-APHIS, and his colleagues are asking for help in
tracking the range of this species.
For details see the Florida Pest Alert site.
The Florida Pest Alert WWW site is available at
http://extlab7.entnem.ufl.edu/PestAlert/
end quote
I thought some of you moth fanciers would be interested in this. I've
watched the moth spread through my patch of South Florida, devastate
garden plantings and wipe out beach and scrub sites. The larva burrows
into the cactus pad, so predators don't go after it. A systemic
insecticide would ruin the plant for food, of course.
So ... of course gardeners are helping the little demons along, by
carrying cactus pads from garden to garden. That's probably how it got
to the mainland, from one of the islands where our noble gov't was using
it to "control" the prickly pears.
Fire ants are probably not smart enough to go in after it, as they do
after the cane borers and such.
Would you southerners, anyone who grows Opuntia or knows of a stand,
kindly join in this prolonged funeral for the genus? You'll know the
moth is there because the cactus looks blighted and you see mines, both
shallow and deep.
I don't know which I fear more: That the USDA will not find a useful
predator, or that they will. Seems to me that the woodpeckers would
figure it out, if we still had woodpeckers. Flickers, for instance ...
I don't suppose they've embargoed the transport of Opuntia.
Cheers
Anne Kilmer
South Florida and Mayo, Ireland
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