Talk:Hemlock woolly adelgid

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Disappearance of the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid
I just got back from a week spent in the West Virginia highlands around the Cheat River headwaters as well as the South Branch Potomac (Smoke Hole) area. The woolly adelgid was in this area for at least two years and rapidly defoliating the hemlocks in most areas. I was expecting near complete mortality, as had occurred in the areas where it first appeared, like the Virginia Blue Ridge. However, this trip as well as earlier trips to other parts of the central Appalachians seems to confirm that, over the past year or two, the woolly adelgid seem to have vanished, seemingly simultaneously, over a large large area. Most hemlocks are partly defoliated, but surviving in the areas where the infestation arrived later. The isolated, usually small, surviving trees in earlier infested areas are adelgid-free as well.

Anyone know the cause of this fortunate demise of the Hemlock woolly adelgid?

PJD 19 August 2007
 * Scymnus camptodromus lady beetles perhaps?--Wetman (talk) 01:47, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

I Need More
'Anyone out there, if you people know more about this insect, please write more facts because i need them!! Thank you.' —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.120.250.107 (talk) 01:14, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

# of states afflicted
Recently read an article in Ecology, said 15 states had infestations of HWA. I don't know if that predates the data here (eleven), or if the situation has gotten better or worse since the publishing of the article, but it seemed to be a signifigant enough incongruity that it seemed worth mentioning. I don't know if the source was specifically focused on the current level of infestation, and may have used an out-of-date source, but I cannot verify. It just bugs me...
 * If anyone is interested the article was The Ecology of Energy and Nutrient Fluxes in Hemlock Forests Invaded by Hemlock Woolly Adelgid by Bernhard Stadler, Thomas Müller, and David Orwig. Ecology, Vol. 87, No. 7 (Jul., 2006). AnkhAnanku 02:18, 21 February 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by AnkhAnanku (talk • contribs)

*Needs updating especially re: treatment!
I am not qualified but have discussed treatment with the very helpful WV State Forest entomologist. This information is also substantiated by current sources found through web search.

There is no cure for infected hemlocks, but there is effective treatment. Most severely infected hemlocks (those near death) can be revived with Safari, which requires a license to apply.

Lesser infections can be treated with Merit - imidacloprid - which does not require a license, either byground injection or foliar spray, where it can not contaminate water sources - because it kills important water insects. Near water, the imidacloprid must be injected by "IVs". Imidacloprid requires re-application every few years, and is very successful in preserving Hemlocks.

Cost is not high for valued trees, but prohibitive for large numbers of Hemlocks in forests. Refs: -2013 2011 Save Georgia's Hemlocks

-2011 Save Georgia's Hemlocks

-2009 Scholarly - Optimizing imidacloprid dose

-2005 USFS

-2006 Scholarly re: imidacloprid suppression of HWA

-1987 USFS scholarly article does not mention either insecticide

Wth727 (talk) 12:50, 25 April 2013 (UTC)William Hole

Small paper about this pest
In Science (21 August 2015: Vol. 349 no. 6250 pp. 802-805 DOI: 10.1126/science.349.6250.802) there was an easy-to-read article about this pest. Pigmentkleur (talk) 12:17, 21 August 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20160113101732/http://www.saveourhemlocks.org/ to http://saveourhemlocks.org

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Evaluation for Writing for Biologists class
This article primarily discusses general characteristics of the insect, ecological impacts as an invasive pest in the northeastern United States, and current control methods. In its entirety, this article is an overview of this topic and not particularly comprehensive in any section. The article is relatively short, and could be expanded upon to include subcategories to the “Significance” section, as well improved by providing more detailed information about its native ecosystem in Japan (not mentioned).

The material is organized into three topics, however, this organization could be improved. The “Significance” section should be renamed as “Ecological significance” or “Ecological impacts” as this is more descriptive of the content covered. This topic should also be organized into subcategories to have a better flow and make information more accessible.

References are only limited to just ten sources, and could be expanded on. Most of the references used are secondary sources, and a few are not particularly strong. Adding more primary sources and adding more reputable journals as secondary sources could provide more specific information on the broadly mentioned points, and would also lend more credibility to the information being discussed. Not all statements are referenced within the article either, such as the mentioning of Laricobios osakensis as a promising biological control method without any citation. The first two paragraphs in the “Significance” section also have no citation to referenced material.

The introduction does a good job of introducing this topic touching on the key points to be made later in the article. I liked that a brief history summed up how the invasive insect was introduced to the United States and explained its spread. Overall the introduction is effective and edits are unnecessary.

There is only one graphic used in this article which depicts the cotton-like egg sacs on the underside of hemlock branches near the needle base. This is the most indicative symptom of HWA infestation, and is good choice of graphic to compliment this article. An image of the actual hemlock woolly adelgid or diagram of its anatomy would also be a fitting graphic to enhance this piece.

The coverage of this topic is neutral in respect to the scope of its coverage to the northeastern United States. The insect does have a natural range in Japan, of which it is not ecologically damaging. Also, the invasive pest has also been introduced to the northwestern United States, with no ecological devastation. There is proposed explanation of why the insect seems to be be particularly damaging to eastern hemlock and Carolina hemlock populations that range exclusively northeastern United States, a point worth being mentioned. As part of my improvement to this article, a more global perspective could also be asserted as the wider context is missing entirely.

Lastly, the “Control methods” section has a warning banner that content is possibly plagiarized. Improvement to this article could also be established by determining what content is plagiarized (if any), and rewriting passages to avoid any copyright violations.

MBatOU (talk) 13:33, 16 March 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20090108151911/http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/hemadelgid.html to http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/hemadelgid.html
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