Entomology > Defoliators of BC

Introduction

The forest defoliators described here represent about 80% of the species known to feed on conifers in British Columbia. This web site is intended as an interim report towards an exhaustive work that will ultimately include all of the approximately 140 defoliator species known to feed on conifers in British Columbia.

Defoliators described in this work include only those species that consume foliage of any of the 24 species of conifers native to British Columbia.

Insect defoliators, primarily caterpillars and sawfly larvae, are important elements of forest health and biodiversity. Some species periodically go into outbreak causing considerable economic loss to the forest resource while other species are rare and may require conservation efforts. All play an important role in ecological relationships in the forest. Identification of the immature stages of these groups of insects is problematic in that the few larval keys in existence cover only a small proportion of the species occurring in British Columbia, are widely dispersed in the taxonomic literature, are difficult to use and are not illustrated with color photographs.

The larval descriptions, life history data and color photographs provided in each species treatment are designed to enable non-specialists to identify any defoliator occurring on a coniferous host in British Columbia and quickly locate information on the hosts, distribution, biology, abundance, feeding habits and economic importance of each species.

This guide should prove useful to a broad range of users interested in environmental, biodiversity or forest health issues.

Robert Duncan

Pacific Forestry Centre
Canadian Forest Service
Victoria, British Columbia

Ph: (250) 363-0678
Fax: (250) 363-0775
E-Mail: rduncan@pfc.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca

Funding provided by Forestry Innovation Investment