Waypoint- Introduced Species

 Argentine Cactus Moth- The Argentine cactus moth a small, brown moth that is native to Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. It is almost impossible to be recognise as an adult but is bright orange-red as a larvae and lays its eggs in rods. Its caterpillars naturally eat prickly pear cacti and are capable of destroying entire plants easily. They were taken to Australia, Africa, and Asia to deal with invading prickly pears because there were no natural consumers in these areas. Unfortunately North and Central America naturally have both prickly pears and organisms to eat them and are a crash crop in certain regions. The reason for the arrival of the moths in North and Central America is unclear. The moths could have came on imported goods or by natural occurrence. The eggs are layed on the cacti in chains. Upon hatching the larvae borrow into the cactus and proceed to eat the insides of it. This effectively hollows out the cacti to the point of destruction. They are out competing natural consumers and destroy entire crop production.