Classical and fortuitous biological control of the prickly pear cochineal, Dactylopius opuntiae, in Israel

The cochineal, Dactylopius opuntiae (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae) was first reported in Israel in 2013 in a restricted area in the upper Galilee from where, by 2018, it had spread throughout Galilee and the northern Coastal Plain. It infests and kills the Indian-fig prickly pear, Opuntia ficus-indica (Cactaceae), a prominent plant in the landscape of Israel and other Mediterranean countries. Inundative releases of industrially mass-reared...