Biological control of prickly pear cacti on Santa Cruz Island, California

Charles A. Fleschner, Donald W. Ricker and Richard D. Goeden

Hilgardia, 1967, vol. 38, issue 16

Abstract: This publication summarizes 25 years of heretofore unreported efforts to effect the biological control of prickly pear cacti infesting rangeland on Santa Cruz Island, situated off the coast of southern California. To date, partial to substantial biological control of the pest cacti, Opuntia littoralis (Engelmann) Cockerell, O. oricola Philbrick, and their hybrids, has been achieved. The principal biological control agent is a cochineal insect, Dactylopius sp., which is native to the southern California mainland. It was introduced to the island free of its principal natural enemies—Hyperaspis taeniata significanis Casey and Laetilia coccidivora (Comstock)—and has multiplied markedly, at the same time destroying numerous clumps of cacti throughout the island.

Keywords: Environmental; Economics; and; Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1967
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