May 18, 2008 12:59 pm US/Eastern
Damaging Insect Found On N.H. Trees
DURHAM, N.H. (AP) ―
-
-
Needles on the affected trees turn pale, almost yellow and begin to drop. (File Image)
AP
A tiny insect that kills mighty evergreen trees has spread to New Hampshire, far more quickly than experts had expected.
The elongate hemlock scale has been in the Middle Atlantic states and southern New England for decades. It weakens and kills dozens of conifer, or evergreen, species including fir, spruce and hemlock.
The elongate hemlock scale had ranged from Virginia to Massachusetts and west to Ohio. Forest managers were not expecting it to reach New Hampshire so soon.
"We were surprised," said Kyle Lombard of the New Hampshire Division of Forests and Lands. "It's been in those southern states for 50 years. We expected our winters here were cold enough that it would stay south of us."
But he said he has read reports that the insect appeared to be adapting to a colder climate.
Lombard said Forest Health Specialist Jen Weimer spotted the infestation this month in Milford while checking on a resident's report about another invasive insect, the hemlock woolly adelgid. Weimer confirmed the woolly adelgid infestation and noticed the hemlock scale as well.
The Milford infestation is scattered throughout a two-mile radius of wherever hemlock is found, said Lombard. The specialists suspect it's been there for three years.
The combined infestation is double trouble. Most of the trees that have died in other areas were hit by both insects.
"This certainly puts a lot more hemlocks in southern New Hampshire at risk," Lombard said.
Lombard said the outbreak in Milford is large enough that the state will have to work with the U.S. Forest Service to bring in biological controls, including other insects that feed on the invader.
"Those beneficial insects and diseases that are controlling scale in other parts of the country just now need to be brought to New Hampshire," he said.
The state is asking residents to keep an eye out for the hemlock scale and woolly adelgid.
Needles on the affected trees turn pale, almost yellow and begin to drop. The hemlock scale are very small, and usually can be found on the underside of needles.
Signs of woolly adelgid infestation include a cottony growth under hemlock branches.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
