Ill 



Insect Enemies. 



A species of Diaspis is very commonly met 

 with m great quantity on this Prickly-pear, but 

 does not seem to have any mafced effect. 



In the Bulletin on Cactus Insects of the 

 United States of America (p. 52), it is stated that 

 Calandra remota, Sharp, is a species commonly 

 occurring in the stems of bananas and prickly- 

 pears near Honolulu (Mem. Coleopt, Hawaiian 

 Islands, p. 183). 



The specimens of the Argentine moth borer, 

 Zophodia cactorum, which the Commission was 

 transporting to Queensland, fed readily on the 

 Hawaiian Prickly-pear, attacking it in the same 

 manner as it does 0. fimis-indica and others in 

 the Argentine and Uruguay. 



Fungoid Diseases. 



_ The plants as a rule were found to be very 

 vigorous, though, in a few cases, gumming 

 together with the decay of part of a joint was 

 seen occasionally. Though subsequent fungoid 

 infection was evident, the cause of the condition 

 was not recognised. It was not of importance in 

 controlling the spread of the prickly pear. 



SUMMARY. 



A species of Opuntia resembling the " West- 

 wood Pear "of our own State occurs indigenously 

 in the Hawaiian Islands, where it is apparently 

 not held in check by any insect or fungoid 

 enemies, and as a result, is spreading. 



XI. SUMMARY OF INFORMATION AVAILABLE IN EASTERN 

 AUSTRALIAN STATES OTHER THAN QUEENSLAND. 



A great deal of attention has been given in 

 • tQueensland to the prickly-pear question, and 

 much has been published in the Queensland Agri- 

 cultural Journal as well as in the Annual Reports 

 of the Departments of Public Lands and of 

 Agriculture. It has been deemed advisable to 

 include in this report a summary of the informa- 

 tion available in the other States of the Common- 

 wealth, particularly New South Wales, regarding 

 it. 



The botanical side of the question has re- 

 ceived a great deal of attention from Mr. Maiden, 

 who in 1896 brought under Australian notice 

 Bourde's article (1894) on the utilisation of 

 ■prickly-pear for fodder. Two years later he pub- 

 lished the result of his preliminary studies (1898), 

 in which he referred to the Acts regarding 

 destruction which were in force in New South 

 Wales, and also gave an account of the species 

 then known to occur in the continent, as well as 

 of a few others. The naturalised species were 

 then iregarded as 0. tuna, Mill., 0. monacantha, 

 Haw.,'0. hrasiliensis, Haw., and 0. stricta, Haw.* 

 The first has since been identified by him as 0. 

 nigricans, the second and third belong to 0. mona- 

 cantha, while the common pest pear is now recog- 

 nised as a variety of 0. inermis, D.C. Mueller's 

 0. dillenii, from Victorian localities, is regarded 

 as being 0. monacantha (Maiden, 1898, p. 1003). 



In 1911 Mr. Maiden began to publish an 

 interesting and well-illustrated series of articles 

 on " The Prickly Pears of interest to Austra- 

 lians" (1911, 1912, 1913, 1914), most of which 

 have appeared in the Agrictdtural Gazette of New 

 South Wales since our departure from Australia. 

 He gave a list of eleven species known to him in 

 1912 (1912 d, p. 39). The presence in Queensland 

 of at least two others was made known through 

 specimens and photographs which this Commis- 

 sion took to Sydney at the time of its visit. 



0. auramtiaca, Gillies, to which attention has 

 already been called in the section dealing with 

 our work in South Africa, is recorded by Mr. 

 Maiden from Windsor and Scone in New South 

 Wales and from Goondiwindi and Warwi3k in 



* It is evidently from this paper that Mr. Burkill 

 (1911, p. 292) has compiled his information regarding the 

 species found in Australia. 

 K 



our State (1911 a, 1912 a, p. 210). We have 

 referred to its presence at Roma. 



0. imbricata, Haw., is reported from Sofala, 

 Scone, Warialda, and Muswellbrook, New South 

 Wales (Maiden, 1911 b) . We have received speci- 

 mens from the Laidley district. 



0. nigricans, Haw., occurs commonly at 

 Windsor and near Muswellbrook, and is also 

 found near Telarbon in Queensland (Maiden, 



1912 a). 



0. microdasys is a garden escapee which Mr. 

 Maiden states is now to be met with in the Pil- 

 laga scrub, N.S.W. (1914 a). 



0. tomentosa, S.D., is the tree-pear of the 

 Helidon district, and occurs also at Gayndah and 

 in the district to the west of Rockhampton. Mr. 

 Maiden (1912 c) reported its presence in at least 

 two localities in South Australia and at Warwick 

 and Goondiwindi in this State. 



0. ficus-indica. Mill., a species cultivated in 

 various parts of the world for the sake of its fruit, 

 is recorded by him (1913 a) as a garden escapee 

 in certain localities in the Hunter River district 

 as well as in Queensland. 



0. monacantha. Haw., is the most widespread 

 of all prickly-pears now naturalised in Australia. 

 It is the Suttor River pear of our own State, and 

 is to be met with commonly near Rockhampton, 

 Bowen, and Charters Towers, and occasionally at 

 Gympie and near Brisbane. Mr. Maiden (1898, 



1913 b) mentions as localities Sydney, Windsor, 

 Scone, and Singleton, in N.S.W. ; Melbourne; the 

 Suttor River, Queensland; and refers to its pre- 

 sence in cultivation in other States. It is also 

 found in South Australia. Ewart and Tovey 

 (1908, 1910) mention its occurrence in Victoria, 

 where Mueller had previously recorded it under 

 the name 0. dillenii {fide Maiden, 1898, 1913 d, 

 p. 1075). 



Nopaiea dejecta, S.D., is reported (Maiden, 

 1913 c, p. 974) as being found in a naturalised 

 state near Rockhampton. 



0. dillenii, Haw.— Mr. Maiden (1913 d) 

 identifies as belongmg to this species the more 

 spiny of our two commonest pest pears, which, as 

 we informed him, occurs in abundance in the 

 Gayndah, Bundaberg, and Rockhampton dis- 

 tricts, and less commonly near Brisbane. Mr, 



