Stopping Pests Before They Reach California
The cactus moth, a South American bug that destroys the prickly pear cactus, was recently discovered on Louisiana’s coast….
The biologists want to stop them now, before they get to western cactus-lands where they could devastate environments.
The agriculture agents are also breeding sterile male moths that they will release in areas where other cactus moth is found. The female cactus month mates only once, and if she mates with a sterile male the population will decrease.
More info is here and here.
Larvae inside a prickly pear pad. Photo: Susan Ellis, USDA APHIS PPQ www.forestryimages.org
