The Biological Campaign against Prickly Pear

Abstract

A record of the biological investigations carried out by the Commonwealth Prickly Pear Board from 1920 to 1940 which has resulted in the virtual control of this major pest by the larvae of the moth, Cactoblastis cactorum, of which only one introduction was ever made, i.e. from the Argentine in 1925. By the agency of this insect 25 million acres of heavy pear in Queensland alone have been reduced to 100, 000 acres.