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What's Eating Yew?

By Lynda Chambers

An insect biologist in British Columbia has just made it a whole lot easier to know what's eating yew — and hemlock, pine and fir too for that matter.

Robert (Bob) Duncan of Natural Resources Canada is the author of Conifer Defoliators of British Columbia.

It's a colourful 359-page field guide filled with exquisite images and extraordinary detail about the caterpillars and sawfly larvae that feed on conifer foliage in this province and, incidentally, much of western North America.

"Anyone interested in forest health and environmental or biodiversity issues will find this book of practical use, as will woodlot owners, naturalists and arborists," says Duncan.

Conifer Defoliators of British Columbia is unique, not only because it makes identifying defoliators quicker and easier, but also because it brings together under one cover six decades of research by federal forest rangers who surveyed insect and disease conditions from 1936 to 1995.

And there's more. The book, used as a detection tool, could potentially protect Canada's forests from uninvited insect intruders.

"If someone on the west coast, for example, finds a conifer defoliator that is NOT pictured, I'll want to know right away because it could be a newly introduced species," says Duncan.

Of 173 defoliator species identified in the book, only about 20 periodically go into "outbreak", that is, their numbers increase rapidly and cause economically significant or highly visible damage. These include the spruce budworm, hemlock looper, Douglas-fir tussock moth and larch sawfly. The rest are a significant part of the natural biodiversity in our forests and perform a myriad of ecological functions.

Conifer Defoliators of British Columbia can be ordered online from the Canadian Forest Service at bookstore.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca or by sending a fax to 250-363-6006.

Financial support was provided by the Forest Investment Account of the Government of British Columbia, Forest Science Program.

Learn more by visiting the Web site.