D3378: More than 15 years of mass rearing and releasing Laricobius spp. in the battle against hemlock woolly adelgid

The hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelges tsugae (Annand), (HWA) is an invasive insect native to southern Japan, accidentally introduced to the eastern USA prior to 1950. The pest has caused substantial mortality to Eastern hemlock, Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carrière, from Georgia to Maine, and to Carolina hemlock, T. caroliniana Engelmann, in the southeastern USA. Although chemical pesticides can be effective, they are not practical for treating large areas such as forests and for trees near water. Therefore, much emphasis has been placed on biological control. The Lindsay Young Beneficial Insects Laboratory (LYBIL) at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville is one of the laboratories that mass rears and releases predators of HWA, the derodontid beetles Laricobius nigrinus (Fender) from western North America and L. osakensis (Montgomery and Shiyake) from southern Japan. Data generated during rearing, including comparisons of reproductive success between the two species, will be presented.