Threat to food, eco systems

 


MEXICO CITY: Experts say a moth whose larvae threaten to decimate Mexico's emblematic flat-leafed cactus has invaded the country's mainland for the first time, something authorities have feared for decades.
Lab reports indicated that at least one moth trapped in the resort city of Cancun since January is a South American ``nopal moth,'' a species non-native to Mexico detected last year off the coast on Isla Mujeres, said an official of plant safety.
Mexico said the moths probably flew across the narrow strait that separates the island from Mexico's Caribbean coast or caught a ride on a ferry.
Known as Cactoblastis Cactorum and native to Argentina, the moth was exported to Australia, South Africa and islands throughout the  Caribbean starting in the 1920s to eradicate cacti that occupied valuable farmland.
But in countries like Mexico — where flat-leafed Opuntia cactuses known as ``nopales'' are a food source, an important part of the ecosystem and a national emblem — the moth poses a major threat.
The moths — whose larvae eat away the cacti's insides — also appeared in the United States in 1989.

(The Hindu,16th February,2007)