Lurking on the underside of your favorite fresh holiday wreath might be the latest plant invasive to arrive in Wisconsin.
The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection(DATCP) reports inspectors have found an insect known as the elongate hemlock scale, or EHS. The critter is found on wreaths, swags and boughs and in arrangements of evergreens in hanging baskets and the like.
DATCP spokesperson Donna Gilson says their inspectors found EHS at big box store locations and other places. Gilson says it's starting to show up...
"...This year we found it at a number of large chain stores and multiple outlets within any one chain. It was really widespread across the state and we're very concerned about it...."
Like many other invasives, EHS is native to Asia and was introduced into Michigan and many Eastern states. All of the current state infestations were from four suppliers in North Carolina...
It attacks about 40 different species of conifers or evergreen trees, including fir, spruce and hemlock. The insects feed on the underside of the needles, so you don't see them on the top. You have to turn the branches over to see them.
"They form a scale over to protect themselves as they are feeding. While feeding, they're sapping the nutrients from the tree...."
Gilson says it doesn't kill the tree, but weakens it so it can be affected by something else. The problem spreads as people leave the evergreens and the critters move on....
"Don't dispose of it on the compost pile or don't put it out for the city to pick up with it's brush collection. If you have a fireplace our outdoor fire pit, just burn the branches in those places. If you don't have that, put them in a garbage bag, seal it up an put it in a trash can to be taken to the landfill...."
More information is on the DATCP website
