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    Carmenta Factsheet

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    quocnv1985
    Mimosa pigra is an invasive weed native to Central and South America that was introduced to Darwin in the late 1800s. It forms dense stands that crowd out native plants, make land difficult to use, and limit livestock access to water. Carmenta mimosa, a moth native to Mexico, was introduced in 1989 to help control the spread of mimosa. Carmenta lays eggs on mimosa that hatch and tunnel inside stems, weakening and killing the plants. It now helps reduce mimosa in waterways like the Finniss, Mary, Daly, Adelaide and Reynolds rivers, but still needs help establishing in new areas.

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    Carmenta Factsheet

    Uploaded by

    quocnv1985
    29 views2 pages
    Mimosa pigra is an invasive weed native to Central and South America that was introduced to Darwin in the late 1800s. It forms dense stands that crowd out native plants, make land difficult to use, and limit livestock access to water. Carmenta mimosa, a moth native to Mexico, was introduced in 1989 to help control the spread of mimosa. Carmenta lays eggs on mimosa that hatch and tunnel inside stems, weakening and killing the plants. It now helps reduce mimosa in waterways like the Finniss, Mary, Daly, Adelaide and Reynolds rivers, but still needs help establishing in new areas.

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    Mimosa pigra is an invasive weed native to Central and South America that was introduced to Darwin in the late 1800s. It forms dense stands that crowd out native plants, make land difficult to use, and limit livestock access to water. Carmenta mimosa, a moth native to Mexico, was introduced in 1989 to help control the spread of mimosa. Carmenta lays eggs on mimosa that hatch and tunnel inside stems, weakening and killing the plants. It now helps reduce mimosa in waterways like the Finniss, Mary, Daly, Adelaide and Reynolds rivers, but still needs help establishing in new areas.

    Copyright:

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    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
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    29 views2 pages

    Carmenta Factsheet

    Uploaded by

    quocnv1985
    Mimosa pigra is an invasive weed native to Central and South America that was introduced to Darwin in the late 1800s. It forms dense stands that crowd out native plants, make land difficult to use, and limit livestock access to water. Carmenta mimosa, a moth native to Mexico, was introduced in 1989 to help control the spread of mimosa. Carmenta lays eggs on mimosa that hatch and tunnel inside stems, weakening and killing the plants. It now helps reduce mimosa in waterways like the Finniss, Mary, Daly, Adelaide and Reynolds rivers, but still needs help establishing in new areas.

    Copyright:

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    The Weed - Mimosa

    • Mimosa pigra is the scientific name for the


    weed we usually call mimosa.

    • Mimosa is a branched prickly bush that can


    grow to about 6m high. It has woody stems,
    bipinnate leaves and pink flowers.

    • Mimosa is found on floodplains in the Northern


    Territory. There are big infestations on the Mimosa
    Daly, Finniss, Adelaide and Mary river systems
    and it is found from the Keep river on the
    Western Australian border to the Phelp river in
    the east.

    • The plant is native to Central and South


    America. It was probably brought into Darwin
    via the botanic gardens in the late 1800’s.

    Seed pods
    Why is it a problem?
    • Mimosa forms large dense stands which

    • make it difficult for stock to access water

    • makes land hard to use for traditional and


    recreational purposes

    • Mimosa changes the environment and out


    competes native plants. Flower

    www..nt.gov.au/nreta/naturalresources/weeds or email: weedinfo.nreta@nt.gov.au

    For more information call: 8999 2266


    Carmenta adult

    The moth – Carmenta


    • Carmenta mimosa is the scientific name of the
    moth we usually call carmenta.

    • It is native to Mexico and was introduced into the


    Northern Territory in 1989 after 2 years of
    quarantine testing.

    • Carmenta adults look like wasps and have a


    black body with cream stripes. Their wings are
    clear with black veins and edges. Adults live for
    about 5 days. Carmenta adult
    Ca
    • Each carmenta female can lay up to 300 eggs,
    which take about 11 days to hatch. The larvae
    tunnel into the stem and feed for 60 days. This
    weakens the stem and can cause it to break off
    and die. It can also stress the plant to such an
    extent that it produces very little seed. Once the
    larva has finished feeding, it pupates and
    emerges 11 days later as an adult. It takes about
    9 weeks for carmenta to complete its life cycle. Carmenta larvae
    • You can tell when there is carmenta inside a
    mimosa stem by the sawdust (frass) on the
    outside of the stem.

    • Carmenta is the most successful insect we have


    in the fight against mimosa. It is now found on
    the Finniss, Mary, Daly, Adelaide and Reynolds
    rivers. This moth spreads very slowly so we still
    need to help redistribute it into new areas.

    Sawdust (frass) on a mimosa stem Damaged mimosa plant

    www..nt.gov.au/nreta/naturalresources/weeds or email: weedinfo.nreta@nt.gov.au

    Sawdust (frass)
    For more on a mimosa
    information call: 8999stem
    2266

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