Sounds like spruce aphids, aka wooley adelgids. Try just spraying the tree
first with a strong jet of water - that should remove the majority of the
insects. Insecticidal soap and/or ultrafine horticultural oil should work
well also.

pam - gardengal



Jan Flora wrote:

We have a small (20') Lutz spruce that's infested with bugs that look
like Christmas tree flocking. They aren't mealy bugs. The rocks under
the tree are *full* of tiny white eggs.

Does anyone have any idea what this could be? I can't find it in any of
my books. Will spray the tree with soapy water today and see if that
makes a dent.

We've lost most of our mature spruce forest here to Japanese Spruce
Bark beetles in the last 10 years, so we're really trying to take care
of the few trees that survived the plague.

Thanks,

Jan