Wheel Cactus plant compromised by Cochineal insects.
During 2019 our committee members completed a project with the goal of improving control of Wheel Cactus infestations. The project was titled ‘A multi-pronged strategy for Wheel Control control’ and was funded by Landcare Victoria Inc. Because after many years of using direct herbicide injection and manual digging we still have major infestations of this noxious weed, we’ve enlisted the help of a biological control agent.
The key achievements of this project are the establishment of populations of the Cochineal insect into some of our local core Wheel Cactus infestations and helping the landowners to integrate this tool into their management strategy. We’ve also constructed a nursery and now cultivating a protected population of the Cochineal insects for future use by us and anyone else that’s interested in using them.
Here’s a link to the Project Report https://cactuswarriors.org/newsite/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Multi-pronged-Management-Project-Report.pdf
