CHAPTER III 



INSECT PESTS OF TIMBER 



Insect pests of timber may be divided into 

 two classes : (1) those which damage the hving 

 tree ; (2) those which damage the timber after 

 felhng. Members of the former class more im- 

 mediately concern the forester ; nevertheless, 

 they cannot be, or ought not to be, ignored by 

 the timber merchant. This division of injurious 

 timber-loving insects is an artificial and not a 

 scientific one. 



Insects which damage living trees. Before 

 we consider any of these insects in detail, we 

 may well give a moment to the enumeration 

 of various methods in which damage is occa- 

 sioned. A host of insect pests feed upon the 

 leaves of forest trees. In moderation, this habit 

 may do little or no harm ; carried to excess, 

 even to the complete defoHation of the trees, 

 over a large area of forest, an event by no 

 means uncommon, the damage becomes serious 

 and sometimes irreparable. The leaves are the 

 food factories of the tree ; they are the most 



116 



