Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Insect Behavior and Biocontrol Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #359991

Research Project: Improved Biologically-Based Tactics to Manage Invasive Insect Pests and Weeds

Location: Insect Behavior and Biocontrol Research

Title: Causes of mortality at different stages of Cactoblastis cactorum in the native range

Author
item VARONE, LAURA - Fuedei
item AGUIRRE, MARIA - Fuedei
item LOBOS, ENRIQUE - Universidad Nacional De Cordoba
item RUIZ, DARIO - Universidad Nacional De Cordoba
item Hight, Stephen
item PALOTINI, FLORENCIA - Consejo Nacional De Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas(CONICET)
item GUALA, MARIEL - Fuedei
item LOGARZO, GUILLERMO - Fuedei

Submitted to: BioControl
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/15/2019
Publication Date: 6/1/2019
Citation: Varone, L., Aguirre, M.B., Lobos, E., Ruiz, D., Hight, S.D., Palotini, F., Guala, M., Logarzo, G.A. 2019. Causes of mortality at different stages of Cactoblastis cactorum in the native range. Biocontrol. 64(3):249-261. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-019-09938-0.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-019-09938-0

Interpretive Summary: The non-native cactus moth from Argentina has spread across coastal USA from North Carolina to Texas destroying prickly pear cactus. One method of controlling invasive, non-native insect species is to reunite host specific and damaging natural enemies of the pest from its original homeland with the pest in its new area; a technique known as classical biological control. One of the most powerful approaches for evaluating the impact of natural enemies on insect populations is the construction and analysis of life tables which identify and measure the importance of mortality factors during different developmental stages throughout the life cycle of the targeted insect pest. Scientists with USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology, Tallahassee, Florida, in collaboration with those at the Argentine Foundation for the Study of Invasive Species (Fundación para el Estudio de Especies Invasivas), and several Argentine Universities conducted life table studies in Argentina and determined that the most host specific and important natural enemy against the cactus moth was a small parasitic wasp that attacks young caterpillars. This information has led to additional studies with this wasp showing that it attacks only the target caterpillar and no other cactus feeding Argentine caterpillars. The wasp is currently under study in a Florida quarantine to test if it attacks USA native cactus feeding caterpillars before it can be released into the native USA environment. Using this wasp as a classical biological control agent is the only self-perpetuating control option and offers an environmentally friendly practical approach to protecting the vast native prickly pear habitats in the desert Southwest and Mexico against an established population of Argentine cactus moth.

Technical Abstract: Cactoblastis cactorum (Berg) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) is native to South America and has been used successfully as a biocontrol agent against invasive species of Opuntia (Cactaceae). After its release in the Caribbean, it entered North America, dispersed to southeastern US, and may reach Mexico threatening native cacti biodiversity and industry based on Opuntia spp. Identifying mortality factors acting on insect populations is central to develop pest management programs. The objective of this study was to estimate mortality causes of C. cactorum in its native range through life table experiments conducted on the exotic O. ficus-indica (L.) Miller and the native species O. quimilo K. Schum. and O. megapotamica Arechav., to detect vulnerable stages and natural enemies. The main mortality factor were generalist predators and native plant defenses. Apanteles opuntiarum Martínez & Berta (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) was found to be the parasitoid with the highest potential as a biocontrol agent.