Forest Protection 169 



insects were unnoticed, but as the supply of standing tim- 

 ber has decreased, the work of the insects has come more 

 to our notice and they have apparently become more 

 numerous. When the growth of our forests becomes more 

 concentrated under proper management, we may expect 

 the insects to play a more important part as they do in 

 the forests of Europe to-day. Up to the present time, 

 comparatively few insects are known to have done exten- 

 sive damage in this country. The gipsy and brown- 

 tailed moths have worked havoc over rather limited areas 

 in New England. The larch saw fly at one time destroyed 

 much of the tamarack in the Northeast. The white pine 

 weevil frequently does considerable damage in the same 

 district. The spruce-destroying beetle killed all the 

 spruce on large tracts in the forests of West Virginia and 

 the pine-destroying beetle has done much the same 

 damage in the Black Hills. The hickory borer is fairly 

 well distributed throughout the range of that species and 

 the locust boreres are found nearly everywhere that the 

 black locust or mesquite grows. These are the most 

 important of the insects which attack the trees in the forest 

 and the ones to be fought against and destroyed. There 

 are several others that do considerable damage among 

 lawn and park trees, but have never yet become numerous 

 enough to do much damage in the forest. The most im- 

 portant of these are the elm beetle and the forest tent cater- 

 pillar. These insects may be divided into two classes : 

 the leaf -eaters, which work mostly on street and lawn trees, 

 and the bark borers, which work wherever their favorite 

 species are found. 



