Commonwealth Prickly Pear Field Station

The Commonwealth Prickly Pear Field Station at Chinchilla was established in 1923 and was known locally as 'The Bug Farm'.

In 1923, the Commonwealth Prickly Pear Board leased a property owned by Thomas Cole, located approximately 3 miles west of Chinchilla.

At the Field Station, the eggs of the Argentinian Cactoblastis cactorum moth were cultivated in fixed and mobile cages for distribution to local farmers. The eggs were placed on the prickly pears and when hatched, the caterpillars destroyed the pear.

Directors of the Field Station over its 13 year history included Alan Dodd, Alan Taylor, John Mann and A. E. Bullock.

The Commonwealth Prickly Pear Field Station closed in 1936 due to the overwhelming success of the prickly pear eradication program.