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Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Leaps to Oldham County
By
Carol L. Spence
 LEXINGTON,
Ky., (Aug. 8, 2007) – The hemlock wooly adelgid has been found
in the forests of four southeastern Kentucky counties, but this
year there has also been a sighting in Oldham County in the
north central region and a possible sighting in Grayson County
in the west.
An Oldham County homeowner found signs of the insect on two
landscape trees and took samples to the University of Kentucky
Cooperative Extension office to investigate further.
“It was an accidental discovery,” said Lee Townsend, UK
extension entomologist. “It’s important because it is far out of
the known range of the insect in Kentucky.”
The Grayson County find is highly likely, but cannot be
confirmed, because the specimen was in poor condition when
presented to the Kentucky Division of Forestry.
Hemlock woolly adelgid is an aphid-like insect that is found in
eastern hemlock forests. It first appeared in the eastern United
States in Virginia in the 1950s. Since then it has spread to
approximately half of the hemlock range from Connecticut to
North Carolina. It was discovered in southeastern Kentucky in
spring 2006. The infested area generally expands at a rate of 15
miles per year. This year’s sightings in Bell, Harlan, Leslie
and Letcher counties are consistent with that pattern. Because
the Oldham County find is nearly 200 miles outside the expected
range, the find causes concern.
Townsend said that four years ago, when the Oldham County trees
were introduced into the landscape, the insect had yet to be
discovered in the area and consequently would not have been on
anyone’s minds.
“Now I think the nursery industry is aware of this insect and of
other invasive species that are around,” he said. “One of the
main things you can do (as a homeowner) is get your landscape
plants through a licensed nurseryman and landscaper rather than
buying from someone who’s not licensed or who you don’t know.”
Homeowners should look for telltale white, wooly masses at the
bases of eastern and Carolina hemlock needles. These cotton
ball-like sacs offer a protective coating for the adelgid that
lives within. The insects’ feeding will result in grayish-green
foliage, premature needle drop, thinned crowns, branch tip
dieback and eventual tree death.
The hemlock woolly adelgid can be spread by birds or carried on
the wind. If left unchecked in the home landscape, the result
could be the loss of valuable trees throughout the neighborhood.
Townsend said that in the wild, as in the forests of
southeastern Kentucky, the loss of the trees has a serious
impact on the environment, with a detrimental effect on water
quality in particular. Hemlocks commonly grow along streams and
rivers, providing shade and cooler stream temperatures.
In an ongoing survey program covering the forests of eastern
Kentucky, UK watches for diseases and invasive species of
insects and plants, including the hemlock woolly adelgid, gypsy
moth and the emerald ash borer. The Kentucky Division of
Forestry, many of the state parks and nature preserves are on
the lookout as well.
Townsend recommends that homeowners examine their landscape
hemlock trees for the fuzzy white material the insect produces.
“If you see that on hemlocks, you can get a sample of it and
take it to the extension office in your county,” he said. “In
some cases, it is spider egg cases, but what we’d really be
concerned about is if it was the adelgid. We don’t know how much
landscaping this particular landscaper did, so we don’t know how
many infected trees might have been brought into the area and
planted. That’s something we want to follow up on, as well.”
For more information about controlling the hemlock woolly
adelgid in the landscape, contact the local extension office.
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Contact: Lee Townsend, 859-257-7455
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The UK College
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