8/9/2019 Hemlock Bane May Have Met Its Match, April 8, 2004

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Beetle invasionrHemlock banemay have met. , r =\ '',C-."!( .

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Some of 4,000Pseudoscymnustsugae beetles,black in COIOT,released atUpper Whitewater Falls inNort h Carolinafeed on part ofan Eastern hemlock tree withtree-destroyinghemlock woolyadelgidsattached.

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Ken Ruinaxd Independen t-Mail photosConway, left, a Clemson University entomologist, releases some of 4,000 Pseudoscymnus tsugae beetles with theArmy Forest Service's Rusty Rhea at Upper Whitewater Falls in North Carolina. Officials hope the beetle willtlestroy a pest that has ravaged native hem lock trees in the region.cientists hope to save native treesKelly Davis

fdependPnt.MailSALEM - Great swaths ofAppalachIan formay depend on tiny beethat like to eat a destruc-exotic l)lant pest.As part of a project totablish the hemlock wo oly's natural enemy inregion ns. Forestice offie ials havewith some privateand universities tothe beetles and releaseat key points in infestlands.About 4,000 Japanese

"We'll probably lose(rarer Carolinahemlocks)altogether."

Buzz Williamsh l l t t o O g l i ConJn'vn1llY JpOkl'Sm4"

Pseudoscymnus tsugae beetles were set out Wednesdayon hemlock trees near theUpper Whitewater Falls, surrounded by curious touristsand reporters invited to

watch them fly to freedom.The hope is that they eventually will settle down tomunch on the adelgids in theNantahala National ForestMicroscopic relatives toaphids. adelgids arrived inthe western United States in1924 aboard imported nwsery plants, but didn' t reachthe East until the mid-1950s.Since then. they have beendevastating eastern andCarolina hemlocks."We'll probably lose (rarerCarolina hemlocks) altogether," said Buzz Williams ofthe Chattooga Conservancy,

a partner in the beetlerelease program.Los ing all hemlocks in thEast would be a major disas-ter, said Rusty Rhea, withthe U.S. Fo rest Service'sForest Health Protection.Eastern hemlocks areriparian, meaning theyinhablt r iver and streambottoms, he said. Theymature rapidly. creatingshade and other old-growthconditions that benefit animals that inhabit onlymatu re forests.Please see Beetles. Page 4A

8/9/2019 Hemlock Bane May Have Met Its Match, April 8, 2004

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Beetles might helpsave native treesFrom Page lA

Their shade moderatesstream temperatures, and,because their preferredhabitat is rarely touched bynatural wildfires, soilaround hemlocks is acidicand home to unique ecosycterns.Other hardwoods havetaken over most of the ecological roles of maturechestnuts in Easternforests, Mr. Rhea said.There is no replacement forthe hemlocks.And unlike other exoticpests, such as chestnutblight and balsam adelgids,wooly adelgids kill hemlocks at a11life stages, fromsaplings to 100-foot, 800-. year-old mature trees.Since becoming established, adelgids have spreaddown the east coast fromMassachusetts to northeastGeo rgia, and are expectedto cover the eastern hemlock's entire range, whichextends from Maine tonor thern Alabama.The bug explosion haskilled 80 percent to 90 percent of hemlocks inVirginia's ShenandoahValley. The fir st SouthernAppalachian sighting wasin 2001, in the ChattoogaRiver watershed.Adelgids coat trees withfuzzy white spots that lookalmost like a dus ting ofsnow, feeding by piercingenergy-producing cells atthe base of needles. Theyhave no natural check in theUnited States, so their population has go tten unbalanced, Ml: Rhea said.There are effective chemical controls, giving homeowners options for a smallnumber of trees. But i twould be inefficient toattempt to spray the entire

Xen RuinaItl IndependentMailJeff Owenby of the U.S. Forest Service, left, holds abranch of an Eastern hemlock tree infested with the hemlock woolly adelgid, as Harrison Metzger ofHendersonville, N.C., takes a photograph. Mr. Metzgerhad his 16-month-old daughter Annalee Metzger in towat Whitewater Falls Park in North Carolina, just aboveSalem, on Wednesday.adelgid range with chemicals, Mr. Rhea said.Fortunately, the infestation has coincided with scientists' ability to rear thebeetles and the advent ofother research that mayhelp turn the tide. Even so,the first adelgid-relatedhemlock deaths in SouthCarolina are expected thissummer, aroun d Burrell

Ford in Oconee County.The beetles releasedWednesday were grown inan "insectory" at Clemsonby entomologist HughConway, who runs one ofjust five labs rearing theimports for adelgid control.Kelly Davis can be reachedat (864) 260-1277 or bye-mail atdavisk@lndependentMail.com.