Aphidoidea
Guides
Adelgidae
adelgids, woolly conifer aphids, pine aphids, spruce aphids
Adelgidae is a small family of sap-sucking insects in the order Hemiptera, closely related to aphids. Members are commonly known as "woolly conifer aphids" due to their waxy secretions and exclusive association with conifer hosts in the family Pinaceae. The family includes some of the most destructive invasive forest pests in North America, notably the hemlock woolly adelgid (*Adelges tsugae*) and balsam woolly adelgid (*A. piceae*), which have caused widespread tree mortality. Adelgids exhibit complex, multigeneration life cycles that may include cyclical parthenogenesis, host alternation, and polymorphism.