Monroe Park Ranger Releases Japanese Beetles Into Webb Mountain Park

Monroe Co. Parks & Rec: Monroe’s Park Ranger David Solek and Dr. Carole Cheah, a research entomologist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in Windsor, CT, release 100 Japanese ladybeetles in Webb Mountain Park (June 16) as part of a biological control to combat the woolly adelgid that has decimated the hemlock stands of Connecticut and other Eastern States and Canada.

The release follows a similar dispersement in the park last year. Environmentalists like Dr. Cheah report the Japanese ladybeetles are predators of the woolly adelgid and have proven ecologically friendly and economical as a long-term control against the threat to the hemlock watersheds and habitat. The latest batch released in Monroe was donated by Jayme Boniewicz, director of Tree-Savers of Greentown, PA , a commercial supplier of the beetles. Said Dr. Cheah: “It is vitally important to manage the woolly adelgid before outbreaks of this pest build again.”

Image Courtesy of Monroe Parks