As it matures, it produces a covering of wool-like wax filaments to protect itself and its eggs from natural enemies and prevent them from drying out. Learn where this pest is now, what it looks like and how to prevent its spread to new areas. If you notice white, waxy material at the base of the needles on hemlock trees, to prevent spread, do not remove potentially infested material from the site. The presence of white cottony masses on twigs and at the base of the hemlock needles is the most obvious indicator and good evidence of a hemlock woolly adelgid infestation. But these winged adelgids feed only on spruce, not hemlock. There is a USDA-approved predator beetle that can control Hemlock Woolly Adelgid on our native hemlocks and support the long-term survival and recovery of our native hemlock ecosystems in the Eastern US. The hemlock woolly adelgid is tiny, less than 1/16-inch long, and varies from dark reddish-brown to purplish-black in color. The HWA cause foliar damage, crown loss and mortality by inserting a feeding tube into the base of hemlock needles and suck the nutrients from the tree stem. Early detection gives your tree a much better chance of survival. This enables them to freely feed on and kill hemlocks in as few as three years. Because of the ways it eats, lives, and travels, some additional steps are needed for recreationists to help stop its spread. Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Damage. PT only eats hemlock wooly adelgid, balsam woolly adelgid, and … Native to Asia HWAs have no natural predators in the United States. By Gabriel Popkin Jan. 15, 2020 , 4:20 PM. Description: This beetle species is native to Japan and was first discovered in 1992. Be on the lookout, early detection allows more options for mitigating the insect's impact. In their native Japan, hemlock woolly adelgids produce a winged generation that can fly and disperse. The hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelges tsugae, is causing widespread mortality of eastern hemlock, Tsuga canadensis, in the eastern United States. If the adelgid is not controlled, infested trees will decline and eventually die, usually within four to 10 years. Please review hemlock woolly adelgid look alikes (printable PDF) before reporting. Treatments for hemlock woolly adelgid. A potential ally for one of North America’s most embattled trees has passed its first big test. Hemlock woolly adelgid was accidentally brought to eastern North America and is a threat to eastern hemlocks. The woolly adelgid is an aphid-like insect that can grow and reproduce on all types of hemlocks, but only the eastern and Carolina hemlocks decline and die from an infestation. Hemlock woolly adelgid. While the beetle will eat other conifer adelgids, it highly prefers the hemlock woolly adelgid. Hemlock woolly adelgid was first reported in the eastern United States in 1951 near Richmond, VA. Thankfully, only two of the four common hemlock species found in North America are susceptible to the disease.