Biology Forums - Study Force

In a battle between bugs and trees, bugs sometimes win. This is happening in the Great Smoky Mountains, in the southeastern United States. The bugs are woolly adelgids (uh-DEL-jidz). The trees are eastern hemlocks. In Great Smoky Mountain National Park, these trees can grow more than 150 feet tall. Some are more than 500 years old. The hemlock forests of the park cover tens of thousands of acres. Since 2002, though, the insects have been attacking hemlocks by the hundreds. If these bugs are not stopped, they could kill most of the hemlocks in the park. This would harm other living things. For example, hemlocks provide shade along creeks. This keeps the creeks cool enough for fish to survive.

How, exactly, do the adelgids attack the trees? The adelgids cover themselves with a white "wool" that protects them. They then feed on the trees' sap at the base of their needles. This stops the flow of food to parts of the trees. The hemlocks lose their needles and starve to death.
Park officials are trying different ways to get rid of the insects. One method is releasing beetles that feed on woolly adelgids. In a battle between bugs and bugs, maybe the right bugs will win.

How do park officials plan to help save the hemlock trees?

A. They will plant more hemlock trees along the creek beds.
B. They will release beetles that feed on adelgids into the environment.
C. They will cover the trees with a white woolly substance to protect them.
D. They will use needles to pump more sap into the trees.

B. They will release beetles that feed on adelgids into the environment.