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

Fleschner, C; Ricker, D; Goeden, R

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

Authors

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

Authors Affiliations

Charles A. Fleschner was Professor of Biological Control, and Entomologist in the Experiment Station, Riverside; Donald W. Ricker was Laboratory Technician IV, Department of Biological Control, Riverside; Richard D. Goeden was Lecturer in Biological Control, and Assistant Entomologist in the Experiment Station, Riverside.

Publication Information

Hilgardia 38(16):579-606. DOI:10.3733/hilg.v38n16p579. November 1967.

PDF of full article, Cite this article

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.

Effective range management practices, i.e., eradication of wild sheep and restrained cattle grazing, have aided the biological control efforts, and both have resulted in the return and persistence of annual grasses on formerly overgrazed and cacti-infested grazing lands.

The coreid bugs, Chelinidea tabulata (Burmeister) and C. vittiger Uhler, were also successfully introduced to Santa Cruz Island from Texas and mainland California, respectively, but neither species is thought significant as a biological control agent. The cactus-feeding phycitids, Olycella junctolineella (Hulst), Melitara dentata (Grote), and M. prodenialis Walker, were not successfully colonized on Santa Cruz Island.

Literature Cited

Alexander W. B. Natural enemies of prickly pear and their introduction into Australia. Commonwealth Australia Inst. Sci. Ind. Bul. 1925. 29.:80 pp.

Bremner C. St. J. Geology of Santa Cruz Island, Santa Barbara County, California. Santa Barbara Mus. Nat. Hist. Occasional Papers No. 1932. 1.:33 pp.

Bugbee R. E., Reigel A. The cactus moth, Melitara dentata (Grote), and its effect on Opuntia macrorrhiza in western Kansas. Amer. Midland Nat. 1945. 33:117-27.

Dodd A. P. The biological campaign against prickly pear. 1940. Brisbane, Australia: Commonwealth Prickly-Pear Board. 177p. pp.

Essig E. O. Insects of western North America. 1926. New York: The MacMillan Co. 1035p. pp.

Ferris G. F. Atlas of the scale insects of North America. The families Aclerididae, Asterolecaniidae, Conchaspididae, Dactylopiidae, and Lacciferidae. 1955. VII: Stanford, Calif.: Stanford Univ. Press. 233p. pp.

Fullaway D. T. Biological control of cactus in Hawaii. Jour. Econ. Ent. 1954. 47:696-700.

Girault A. A. New Encyrtidae from North America. Psyche. 1916. 23:41-50. DOI: 10.1155/1916/76065 [CrossRef]

Hamlin J. C. A review of the genus Chelinidea (Hemiptera-Heteroptera) with biological data. Ann. Ent. Soc. Amer. 1924. 17:193-208.

Hamlin J. C. Important Opuntia insects of the United States, biological notes on the moth borers (Pyralidae). Pan-Pac. Ent. 1925. 2:1-11.

Heinrich C. The cactus-feeding Phycitinae: a contribution toward a revision of the American pyralidoid moths of the family Phycitidae. Proc. U. S. Natl. Mus. 1939. 86:331-413. DOI: 10.5479/si.00963801.86-3053.331 [CrossRef]

Hillinger C. The California islands. 1958. Los Angeles, Calif.: Academy Publications. 165p. pp.

Holloway J. K., DeBach P. Projects in biological control of weeds. Biological control of insects pests and weeds. 1964. New York: Reinhold Publishing Corp. p. 650-69.

Holloway J. K., Huffaker C. B. Klamath weed beetles. Calif. Agr. 1949. 3(2):3-10. DOI: 10.3733/ca.v003n02p3 [CrossRef]

Huffaker C. B. Fundamentals of biological control of weeds. Hilgardia. 1957. 27(3):101-57. DOI: 10.3733/hilg.v27n03p101 [CrossRef]

Huffaker C. B. Biological control of weeds with insects. Ann. Rev. Ent. 1959. 4:251-76. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.en.04.010159.001343 [CrossRef]

Huffaker C. B., DeBach P. Fundamentals of biological weed control. Biological control of insect pests and weeds. 1964. New York: Reinhold Publishing Corp. p. 631-49.

Hunter W. D., Pratt F. C., Mitchell J. D. The principal cactus insects of the United States. U. S. Dept. Agr. Bur. Ent. Bul. 1912. 113.:71 pp. DOI: 10.5962/bhl.title.64983 [CrossRef]

Johnston T. H., Tryon H. Report of the Prickly-Pear Travelling Commission, Nov. 1912-Apr. 1914. 1914. Australia: Brisbane. 131p. pp.

Muesebeck C. F. W., Krombein K. V., Townes H. K. Hymenoptera of America north of Mexico. Synoptic Catalogue. U. S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Monogr. No. 1951. 2.:1420 pp.

Munz P. A., Keck D. D. A California flora. 1959. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. 1681p. pp. DOI: 10.2307/25155209 [CrossRef]

Philbrick R. N. Opuntia oricola, a new Pacfic Coast species. Cactus &; Succulent Jour. Amer. 1964. 36:163-65.

Smith H. S. Biological control of weeds in the United States. Proc. Ent. Soc. Washington. 1947. 49:169-70.

Stone A. California information almanac. 1964. Lakewood, Calif.: California Information Almanac Co., Inc. 521p. pp.

Thompson W. R. A catalogue of the parasites and predators of insect pests. Sec. 1, Part 3. 1944. Belleville, Ontario, Canada: Imp. Agr. Bur. Inst. Ent., Imp. Parasite Serv. 149p. pp.

Wilson F. The entomological control of weeds. Un. Int. Sci. Biol. (B). 1949. 5:53-64.

Wilson F. Some aspects of the control of weeds by insects. Proc. 7th Pac. Sci. Cong. 1953. 4:294-99.

Wilson F. A review of the biological control of insects and weeds in Australia and Australian New Guinea. Commonwealth Inst. Biol. Control Tech. Comm. No. 1960. 1.:102 pp.

Wilson F. The biological control of weeds. Ann. Rev. Ent. 1964. 9:225-44. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.en.09.010164.001301 [CrossRef]