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Sep 4, 2009 2:18 pm US/Central
Cactus Moth Must Be Stopped, AG Officials Say
THIBODAUX, La. (AP) ―
A South American moth that eats prickly pear cactus has moved into Louisiana, and federal biologists say it must be stopped before it reaches Texas.
Cactus moths were known to be established in Mississippi, but scientists hadn't seen them in Louisiana until last month, said Bill Spitzer, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's state plant health director in Baton Rouge.
"People may think of cactus as a pest here in Louisiana" but in other states they are "very much a necessary ecological plant, and in Mexico the prickly pear is actually a cash crop," he told the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program Management Conference on Wednesday.
The drab, brown or gray moths are native to Argentina but were brought to Australia, Hawaii, India, South Africa and the Caribbean to control unwanted infestations of prickly pear, Spitzer said.
From the Caribbean, they spread accidentally in 1989 to the Florida Keys, and have munched their way since then across the Gulf Coast.
"We've decided to establish a barrier here to attempt to prevent them from going further west," Spitzer said.
If the moth gets to Texas, he said, its larvae could severely damage environments where prickly pear — also a cash crop — prevents erosion and provides habitat and food for animals.
It has been found in 74 spots along Louisiana's coast, as far west as Cocodrie, 23 miles south of Houma.
Work to stop it includes destroying infested cacti and releasing sterile male moths, Spitzer said.
The moths lay eggs one on another, creating an "egg stick" on a cactus' sharp spikes. After hatching, the bright orange or red-and-black caterpillars burrow into the cactus pad and hollow it out.
It's a proven cactus-killer, Spitzer said: Australia imported it in 1925 because imported prickly pear was growing out of control, and the cactus was virtually wiped out.
The USDA's campaign includes stepping up trapping and inspection efforts and enlisting local help to find prickly pear cacti in coastal Louisiana's remote landscape.
They'll also hold public meetings and meet with landowners to get the word out.
The agriculture agents are also breeding sterile male moths that they will release in areas where the pest is found.
Females mate only once. Those which mate with sterile males won't reproduce. Infected cacti — including those covering the ruins of Fort Livingston on Grand Terre Island — will be killed by burning, thrashing or herbicide.
Some environmental officials expressed concern about wiping cacti off the Louisiana landscape as a means of controlling the moth.
"I think the cactus is a very important part of our ecology here in Louisiana, too," said Kerry St. Pe', director of the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program.
The cacti are prevalent in Plaquemines Parish and other coastal landscapes, and provide important habitat for birds, he said.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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