This story is free to read because readers choose to support LAist. If you find value in independent local reporting, make a donation to power our newsroom today. The nopal, also known as the prickly ...

AUSTIN (KXAN) — An invasive insect with a wingspan of only an inch or so has the potential to wreak havoc on Texas’ native prickly pear cacti. Researchers with the University of Texas at Austin say ...

The prickly pear cactus — a rugged and at times cursed symbol of the American Southwest — continues to be threatened by a foreign pest that scientists fear will be much more difficult to contain if it ...

THIBODAUX, La. - A South American moth that eats prickly pear cactus has moved into Louisiana, and federal biologists say it must be stopped before it reaches Texas. Cactus moths were known to be ...

In this Feb. 16, 2011 photo, a cactus moth larva crawls across the tip of a machete that was used to cut open a prickly pear cactus on the bank of Cactus Canal in Jefferson Parish, La. The moth's ...

State agriculture inspector Laura Ooms knew at first glance something was seriously wrong with a couple of prickly pear cactus plants in the garden section of a Wal-Mart store in this Pensacola suburb ...

GULF BREEZE, Fla -- -- State agriculture inspector Laura Ooms knew at first glance something was seriously wrong with a couple of prickly pear cactus plants she found in a store's garden section.

The nopal, also known as the prickly pear cactus, is more than just another succulent in the desert landscape of Mexico and the U.S. Southwest -- it's also a significant food source. Now an invasive ...

Workers cut down diseased nopal plants on Isla Mujeres to try and stop the spread of the moth to the mainland, just six miles across the ocean. In the town of Milpa Alta near Mexico City, Abrahm Avila ...