An invasive insect that has hurt forests in eastern states for more than 50 years is spreading to northern forests. Richie Duchon reports officials think it came by way of out-of-state nurseries:
Transcript
An invasive insect that has hurt forests in eastern states for more than 50 years is spreading to
northern forests. Richie Duchon reports officials think it came by way of out of state nurseries:
The tiny bug kills hemlock trees. The Hemlock Wooly Adelgid makes the trees weak and
vulnerable to droughts. Most of them die within ten years.
Mike Phillip is with the Michigan Department of Agriculture. He says this is an important time
of year for finding the adelgid.
“It begins to become active and will develop a white cottony, fluffy surrounding for its body. It’s
called an ova sac. And that is where it gets its name Wooly Adelgid. And that is an important
stage for us, because that’s where it becomes visible to us, and we can really get an idea of the
size of an infestation and what we’re really facing.”
Hemlocks are an important tree in forests, because they make good habitat for birds and animals.
For the Environment Report, I’m Richie Duchon.