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PETERSHAM, Mass. — In a towering forest of centuries-old eastern hemlocks, it’s easy to miss one of the tree’s nemeses. No larger than a speck of pepper, the Hemlock woolly adelgid spends its life on the underside of needles sucking sap, eventually killing the tree.

The bug is one in an expanding army of insects draining the life out of forests from New England to the West Coast. Aided by global trade, a warming climate and drought-weakened trees, the invaders have become one of the greatest threats to biodiversity in the United States.

Continue reading:  Spread by trade and climate, bugs butcher America’s forests

7 thoughts on “Spread by trade and climate, bugs butcher America’s forests”

  2. Through our actions, we humans have upset the harmony established by Mother Nature between living species and must suffer the consequences. On the other hand, we can learn from the success of the Hemlock woolly adelgid. When working together as one towards a common goal, we can bring down the giant transnational corporations.

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      • The problem I see with that analogy is that the adelgid (that’s some name!) isn’t attacking and destroying its enemy, but its own food source. They are not replacing the hemlock with something better which is what humans need to have if they are to overthrow “predatory” capitalism. Interestingly I was reading an article this morning saying that “capitalism is dying “as from a thousand cuts” yet there is nothing put forth to replace it.” I shudder at the thought that people may, out of desperation, opt for technocratic rule as the replacement. That, to me, would spell the end of humanity under the rule of science and the machine. I would certainly mean the end of democracy.

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  3. The point of the article is well made. I was doing some volunteer work after a wild fire in Rock Creek, B.C., Can. that destroyed several homes. I opened a Home Depot package of aluminum railings that came from China. As soon as it was unsealed, some insects took off from it and disappeared. There was no wood packaging, just cardboard. It is only recently that we’ve had a fire ant infestation up here. We haven’t had a cold enough winter in years to control weird insect infestations. I don’t think there is any real solution to our problem. The planet is going through a major furniture re-arranging thanks to our mindless meddling and it may be we won’t be able to find our favourite TV watching chair for a while.

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