Barbara Burns, Ron Kelley, Steve Sinclair, Brent Teillon, Jim Boone, and John Grehan, Tess Greaves, and Luke Curtis reviewed early drafts and provided valuable comments and suggestions. The support of Amy Snyder, USFS, Forest Health Protection, is gratefully acknowledged. Funding for publication of this field guide was provided by the United States Forest Service, State and Private Forestry, Northeastern Area. Printing was funded in part by the Vermont Association of Professional Horticulturist. Urban surroundings, with compacted or disturbed soils, limited growing space, air pollution, and human pressures are very hard on trees.
Trees are valuable resources that require long-term care.
Insects and diseases pose two of the most serious threats to tree health. The early diagnosis of problems before long-term injury occurs is a crucial step and can depend on the observation of several signs and symptoms at once or in sequence. This field guide has been prepared to provide tree health managers with a means for field identification of some common insect pests associated with trees in urban settings, with an emphasis on the behavior and the habitat needs diagnostic of each insect. The guide is arranged in sections by principal host. Conifers are listed first, followed by deciduous trees.