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From introduction: In South Africa the native ladybird beetle Exochomus flaviventris Mader feeds on the introduced cochineal insect Dactylopius opuntiae (Cockerell) (Pettey, 1943, 1946, 1948; Geyer, 1947 a, b; Pettey and Marais, 1950). It has also been reported to feed on Dactylopius austrinus Lindley (Geyer, 1947 a; Pettey, 1948), but this appears to occur rarely in the field (H.G. Zimmermann and H.G. Robertson pers. camm. ; Appendix 1 ). This thesis attempts to determine why E. flaviventris feeds on D. opuntiae in the field but not on D. austrinus.

The cochineal insect Dactylopius austrinus De Lotto, which was released on jointed cactus, Opuntia aurantiaca Lindley, in South Africa in 1932, failed to bring the weed under an acceptable level of control in spite of the encouraging results during the first few years after release. The reasons for this apparent failure were never clearly understood. In 1957 the State embarked on an intensive herbicidal control programme which is still in force today. This sustained and expensive programme has undoubtedly reduced the density of the weed in most areas but has failed to solve the problem and the plant continues to expand its range. The biological control of o. aurantiaca in South Africa has been fundamentally influenced by this chemical control campaign. The relationship between chemical and biological control methods is reported in this study.

Dispersal of the cochineal insect Dactylopius austrinus De Lotto, introduced into South Africa in 1932 as a biological control agent against jointed cactus Opuntia aurantiaca Lindley, was investigated. Zimmermann et al. (l974) suggested that the apparent failure of this insect to control jointed cactus infestations is due to limited dispersal of the first instar nymphs (hereafter referred to as crawlers). Studies on crawler morphology have shown a clear sexual dimorphism in the pattern and development of filaments on the head, thorax and abdomen of male and female crawlers. This enabled differentiation between the sexes with respect to terminal velocities, behaviour and survival of crawlers which have shown that the crawlers, especially the females, are well adapted to dispersal. Long filaments on the head, thorax and abdomen of the female crawlers, that are restricted to dispersal in the crawler stage (as later instars are sessile) and a behaviour directed towards "take-off" enhance the potential for dispersal. The more sedentary males, with long filaments restricted to the abdomen, are able to disperse as winged adults. The principal factors influencing the timing of dispersal and number of crawlers blown from the host plant are wind and temperature; the latter determining the number of crawlers moving on the host plant. Dispersal is confined to the period between 06h00 and 20h00 and it was possible to correlate the pattern of crawler dispersal with wind patterns. The general equation of Taylor (1978) provided an adequate description of horizontal distribution of D.austrinus crawlers in all directions. Wind dispersal of the apterous crawlers is restricted by the low height of jointed cactus plants. Horizontal distribution is limited (generally less than 10 m) although a small proportion of crawlers carried vertically upwards by turbulence or convection currents are sufficiently hardy to survive long range displacement. It is suggested that the small size of the host plant will also reduce effective colonization as the canopy area provides a small target for the wind-blown crawlers. The limitation on dispersal due to the low height of the host plant suggested a system for artificially enhancing crawler dispersal from elevated towers in the field. Evaluation of this system confirmed that it would be practical to augment or introduce cochineal into jointed cactus infestations to enhance the biocontrol potential of this insect. This offers an alternative to chemical control, that has so far failed to control the spread of jointed cactus despite an intensive and expensive herbicide program