Comment from Danny Skojac

I fully support the use of Scymnus coniferarum as a biological control agent to reduce populations of the non-native, invasive hemlock wooly adelgid (HWA) in the southeastern US. Hemlocks provide several key functions in riparian habitats, including regulation of stream temperatures and flows, thermal cover for wildife, and other beneficial habitat for wildlife. We are losing hemlocks in the So. Appalachians to this pest. Additional options for reducing HWA are needed, and this insect could be useful. It effects HWA during life cycles where current predatory insects do not, and could prove beneficial in reducing HWA and its impacts to hemlock communities. It is a N. American native, and can be reared at a reduced cost relative to exotic biocontrols currently being used for HWA. Thank you.