HWA eggs with wool pulled apart

Eggs of the hemlock woolly adelgid are reddish in color. They are protected by waxy wool-like material secreted by the developing adelgid. Eggs can be found by pulling apart the woolly masses and are generally present between early March and late July in southern Maine. The wool is somewhat sticky, and can be picked up by passing animals, resulting in the movement of eggs. These eggs have the potential to establish HWA in new areas. The overwintering generation can produce up to 300 eggs per adult, the spring generation adults are less fecund and generally produce 75 or fewer eggs. Each small white mass found on a hemlock twig in April has the potential to represent up to 300 individual insects!