A tiny insect that kills mighty evergreen trees has spread to New Hampshire, far more quickly than experts had expected.
The elongate hemlock scale weakens and kills dozens of evergreen species including fir, spruce and hemlock. It has been in the mid-Atlantic states and southern New England for decades, but experts thought it wouldn’t reach New Hampshire this soon because of the state’s colder winters.
A specialist with the state Division of Forest and Lands spotted the infestation this month in Milford while checking on a resident’s report about another invasive insect, the hemlock woolly adelgid.
The state is asking residents to keep an eye out for both pests. Signs of the elongate hemlock scale include pale, almost yellow needles on the tree. Woolly adelgid infestation shows up as a cottony growth under hemlock branches.