Post Messenger Recorder -

Plant health officials are cautioning consumers to burn wreaths and other evergreen decorations, or bag them and put them in the trash, after inspectors found invasive insects on many such items sold at large chain stores in Wisconsin this holiday season.

Inspectors found an insect called elongate hemlock scale, or EHS, on wreaths, swags and boughs, and in arrangements of evergreen boughs in hanging baskets, porch pots, mugs, and sleighs. EHS saps nutrients as it feeds on the underside of conifer needles, and threatens Wisconsin’s Christmas tree farms, native hemlock and balsam fir fores...