Photograph showing destruction of prickly pear by Cactoblastis cactorum moths

Prickly pear was first brought to Australia by the colonists of the First Fleet in 1788. Settlers used these prickly pear species for hedges, in their gardens and as food during droughts. But, by the 1880s, prickly pear was infesting farmland so badly that farmers began abandoning their land.

Cactoblastis cactorum moths were introduced into Australia in 1926 to help control prickly pear. By 1933 it was estimated that 80 per cent of the infested land in Queensland, and 50–60 per cent in New South Wales, had been cleared.