It's the first time populations of the elongate hemlock scale have been found in wild stands of hemlock in Maine, state officials say.

An invasive insect that damages hemlocks has been discovered in the wild in southern Maine. That's according to the Maine Forest Service, which says a population of the elongate hemlock scale has been found for the first time in a naturally growing stand of Maine hemlock trees in Kittery Point. The insect has previously been seen in an ornamental landscape setting in Maine.

The discovery comes on the heels of the recently-discovered spread of another hemlock-damaging invasive insect called the hemlock woolly adelgid, from South Portland to the midcoast town of Bristol, state entomomogists say.

The scale can also infest fir trees, making it a threat to the state's Christmas tree industry, state officials say. "This is a pest we have not had before in Maine," says state entomologist Dave Struble. "Scale and adelgid together is a recipe to accelerate tree decline and mortality."

Every hemlock in the Kittery Point area that entomologists checked harbored hemlock scale populations, Struble says. He says the area has been infested with the hemlock woolly adelgid for quite a while, and the scale was discovered as forestry workers were checking on colonies of predatory beetles brought in to control the woolly adelgid infestation.