CSIRO Science Image

An example of prickly pear. Prickly pears, members of the cactus family Opuntia, were among the many species of flora and fauna successfully introduced to Australia during the nineteenth century. Two members of the family, O. inermis and O. stricta, adapted particularly well. By the mid-1920s, 58 million acres were considered dominated by pears, making valuable agricultural land useless. Commonwealth Prickly Pear Board scientists introduced many insects with varied success, but in 1926, larvae from the Argentinean moth Cactoblastis cactorum were released and within ten years, the once-dense fields of common prickly pear lay rotting or had vanished completely.

Photographer : Archives

Libraries and tags

• Plants  cactus moths   biological control   land use   prickly pears   range management   agricultural pests and pest control   plants