IMPORTANT NORTH AMERICAN FOREST INSECTS 15 



ranean or dry- wood termites (Kalotermes spp.) seriously damage 

 the woodwork of buildings and furniture, and telegraph, telephone, 

 power, and electric-light poles. These termites are able to live in 

 dry wood and do not need to maintain contact with the ground as 

 they do not require much moisture {GO). 



TERMITES (SUBTERRANEAN) 



Reticulitermes spp. 



The most injurious termites throughout the entire United States 

 are ground-nesting or subterranean forms (Reticulitermes spp.). 

 The regions where damage is most serious are portions of the 

 country with warm or temperate climates, including the Eastern 

 States, the central West, and the Pacific coast, as well as all areas 

 south of these regions. These termites are chiefly injurious to wood 

 either in contact with the ground or insufficiently protected, in- 

 sulated, or removed from the ground. The annual damage caused 

 by these termites in the United States is many millions of dollars, 

 these losses being due not only to the value of the wood destroyed 

 but also to the cost of labor of removal, reconstruction, or replace- 

 ment (60,87). 



INSECTS AFFECTING SEEDS, FOREST REPRODUCTION, AND NURSERY PLANTS 



THE SPRUCE TWIG GALL LICE 



(Chermes or G-illettea) Adelges cooleyi Gill. 

 (Chemies) Adelges ahietis L. 



These insects and other related species are important forest, 

 nursery, and ornamental-tree pests, producing characteristic twig- 

 deforming growths which frequently kill the parts attacked. They 

 occur throughout the natural range of the spruces and firs. 



THE NUT WEEVILS 



Curculio spp. 



Weevils of this group are important destroyers of the seeds of 

 certain hardwood trees. Hickory nuts, acorns, chestnuts, and hazle- 

 nuts are heavily infested by these snout beetles which make the seed 

 unviable with a resultant loss in reproduction. Infestation in seeds 

 collected for nursery planting occasionally exceeds 20 per cent 

 (3, '25, 47). 



THE CONE BEETLES 



Conophthorus spp. 



The cone beetles bore into the base of the developing cones of 

 many species of pine. Drying and falling, or prolonged retention 

 of the cones, may follow the attack. In some years, in restricted 

 localities, the entire seed crop is destroyed. The more important 

 species are Conophthorus ponderosae Hopk., the yellow pine cone 

 beetle; C. lambertiauae Hopk., the sugar pine cone beetle; and G. 

 coniperda Sz., the eastern white pine cone beetle (46, 50, 51). 



