INTRODUCTION 
Interest in the protection of the Nation’s forests from insects 
has grown considerably in recent years. This has come about 
largely because of increased awareness of the destructive capaci- 
ties of insects and the heavy toll they take of our dwindling sup- 
plies of commercial timber. Interest has been further heightened 
by the fact that more and more people have come to realize that 
much of the damage caused by insects need not necessarily hap- 
pen—that given adequate knowledge of the habits and behavior 
of injurious insects, it should be possible to either prevent or 
reduce most of it. 
Increased interest in the protection of our forests from insect- 
caused losses has resulted in increased research to develop 
cheaper, safer, and more effective methods of control. Much prog- 
ress has been made in recent years, especially since World War II, 
in studies of the biology and ecology of many important species, 
leading to new or improved control methods. Much new informa- 
tion has also been obtained on many other species of potential 
pests. The results of these investigations appear in many publica- 
tions, some of limited circulation and more or less inaccessible to 
the general public. 
It is the purpose of this publication, which supersedes U.S. 
Department of Agriculture Miscellaneous Publication 657 (167),! 
to review the literature on eastern forest insects which has been 
published since 1940, the cutoff date for nearly all of the informa- 
tion contained in M.P. 657. Insects discussed are those which occur 
either entirely in portions of the United States lying east of the 
100th meridian or which occur in both the eastern and western 
halves of the country.2 The major portion of the publication is 
devoted to the identification, distribution, host relationships, and 
life histories of insects occurring in eastern forests. 
This publication includes not only new information obtained 
since 1940, but also much of the still pertinent information ob- 
tained earlier and reported in M.P. 657. The common names of 
insects preceding the scientific names are approved (85); the 
common names following the scientific names have not been 
approved. 
‘Italic numbers in parentheses refer to Literature Cited, p. 503. 
2A companion volume covering western forest insects is also available. 
if 
