The hemlock woolly adelgid feeds deep within plant tissues by inserting its long sucking mouthparts (stylets) into the underside of the base of hemlock tree needles. It taps directly into the tree’s food storage cells, not the sap. The tree responds by walling off the wound created by the insertion of the stylets. This disrupts the flow of nutrients to the needles and eventually leads to the death of the needles and twigs. Needles will dry out and lose color, turning gray and eventually dropping from the tree. Terminal buds will also die resulting in little to no new shoot growth. Dieback of major limbs can occur within two years and generally progresses from the bottom of the tree upward (McClure et al 2001). The hemlock woolly adelgid has an impressive reproductive potential: consider that one female in the winter generation produces an average of 200 eggs which in turn mature and each female of this adult spring generation produces on average another 200 eggs each. That’s 40,000 eggs in one year, starting from one individual female! Thus, hemlock woolly adelgid populations can grow rapidly in a relatively short period of time. Heavy hemlock woolly adelgid infestations, particularly in the southern Appalachian Mountains, can kill hemlock trees in as little as four years, with older trees dying more quickly. However, for reasons still under investigation, some infested trees in parts of New England survive for 10 years or more.