 The larvae of a large number of species of butterflies, moths and other insects feed on the leaves and other parts of the silver birch. In Germany, almost 500 species of insect have been found on silver and downy birch including 106 beetles and 105 lepidopterans, with 133 insect species feeding almost exclusively on birch. Birch dieback disease can affect planted trees, while naturally regenerated trees seem less susceptible. This disease also affects Betula pubescens and in 2000 was reported at many of the sites planted with birch in Scotland during the 1990s. In the United States, the wood is attacked by the bronze birch borer (Agrilus anxius), an insect pest to which it has no natural resistance.
