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Insect pests of trees: what the agencies record

A table of the tree insect pests that agencies and extension services in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia describe: which trees they are recorded on, where, whether an agency calls them regulated or notifiable, and where reports go.

Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 8, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It does not identify what is wrong with any tree and does not say what should be done about one. Each row names the source it comes from, and every source was read on October 8, 2026. Where a row says "Not stated", the page read did not say. For tree diseases and the wider country picture see tree pests and diseases.

Pests with their own regulated-status page

Five pests have a page that sets out the agencies' regulated status country by country, so they get a row here and no profile page: emerald ash borer, Asian longhorned beetle, spongy moth, box tree moth and oak processionary moth. Hosts, ranges and reporting for those five are on their own pages and are not repeated here.

The table, pest by pest

PestWhat the sources state: trees, places, regulated status, reports
Emerald ash borerTrees: ash. Places: APHIS reports detections in 38 states and the District of Columbia; the Canadian Food Inspection Agency lists regulated areas in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, among other provinces.
Status: country by country on emerald ash borer regulated status. Reports: pages for the United States and Canada.
Asian longhorned beetleTrees: maples and other hardwoods. Places: APHIS lists regulated areas in Massachusetts, New York, Ohio and South Carolina; the Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it was declared eradicated in Mississauga and Toronto; Forest Research says it is not known in the United Kingdom apart from one 2012 outbreak in Kent.
Status: country by country on Asian longhorned beetle regulated status. Reports: pages for the United States and Canada.
Spongy mothTrees: Forest Research: a wide range of broadleaved trees, preferring oaks and poplars in forests; APHIS: more than 300 species of trees and shrubs. Places: APHIS reports it in 20 states and the District of Columbia; the Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it is found in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island; Forest Research says it is present in London and the south east of England.
Status: country by country on spongy moth regulated status. Reports: pages for the United States and Canada.
Box tree mothTrees: boxwood shrubs (Buxus), not a tree species. Places: APHIS says first detected in New York in 2021 and since confirmed in nine more states; the Canadian Food Inspection Agency names Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island as regulated areas.
Status: country by country on box tree moth regulated status. Reports: pages for the United States and Canada.
Oak processionary mothTrees: oak. Places: Forest Research says the established area is most of Greater London and some surrounding counties; the Forestry Commission divides England into management zones. It is notifiable in the United Kingdom.
Status: country by country on oak processionary moth regulated status. Reports: page for the United States and the United Kingdom.
Spotted lanternflyTrees: APHIS: grapevines, hops, stone fruit trees and hardwood trees, with tree-of-heaven preferred. Where: APHIS: 19 States and the District of Columbia. CFIA: first detection in Canada confirmed September 15, 2026, in Windsor, Ontario.
Status: APHIS: several States have quarantine areas. CFIA: regulated in Canada since 2018. Reports: pages for the United States and Canada. Full profile: spotted lanternfly page.
Hemlock woolly adelgidTrees: NRCan: eastern, Carolina, western and mountain hemlock. Where: NRCan: eastern North America from Tennessee to Maine and Ontario, and western North America.
Status: CFIA: regulated areas in British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Ontario. Reports: pages for Canada and the United States. Full profile: hemlock woolly adelgid page.
Elongate hemlock scaleTrees: Penn State Extension: eastern, Carolina and northern Japanese hemlock, fir and spruce, and also cedar, Douglas-fir and pine. Where: Penn State Extension: called a serious armored scale pest of hemlock in Pennsylvania.
Status: Not stated on the page read. Reports: No report line on the page read.
European spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus)Trees: CFIA: spruce. Where: CFIA: one of the most destructive pests of spruce on the continent of Europe.
Status: CFIA page links directives D-02-12, D-01-12 and D-98-08 on wood, firewood and wood packaging. Page modified July 9, 2019. Reports: page for Canada.
Polyphagous shot-hole borerTrees: DPIRD: over 500 plants and trees documented as affected globally. Where: DPIRD: detected in Western Australia in August 2021; also named in Israel, the USA, South Africa and Argentina.
Status: DPIRD: declared pest and prohibited organism in Western Australia, with a quarantine area notice. Reports: page for Australia. Full profile: shot-hole borer page.
Plane lace bugTrees: Forest Research: London plane, oriental plane and American sycamore. Where: Forest Research: present in the United Kingdom, distribution unknown though likely limited, found on central London street and park trees in summer 2024.
Defra and Fera factsheet (January 2025): feeds mainly on plane trees; first found in Europe in 1964 in Padova, Italy, and in most of mainland Europe by the date of the factsheet; found at two Bedfordshire nurseries in 2006 and confirmed in central London in September 2024.
Status: Forest Research does not call it notifiable and welcomes records. Defra: present, not widely distributed and not under official control. Reports: page for the United Kingdom; both pages name TreeAlert for finds in the wider environment in Great Britain. Full profile: plane lace bug page.
Bronze birch borerTrees: NRCan: all native birches; introduced birches appear highly susceptible. Where: NRCan: native across temperate and boreal North America.
Status: NRCan: declared a quarantine pest by the European Union. None stated for North America. Reports: page for Canada. Full profile: bronze birch borer page.
Two-lined chestnut borerTrees: NRCan: several oak species and American chestnut. NC State Extension: both the red oak and white oak groups. Where: NRCan: native to North America east of the 100th meridian, from Manitoba to New Brunswick and the eastern United States.
Status: None stated on the three pages read; all call it a secondary pest of stressed trees. Reports: No report line on the pages read. Full profile: twolined chestnut borer page.
Flatheaded borersTrees: NC State Extension: newly planted trees and trees weakened by drought, defoliation or other factors. Where: NRCan: the group name for the larvae of metallic wood-boring beetles, which includes bronze birch borer.
Status: Not stated as a group. Reports: Not applicable to a group.
Mountain pine beetleTrees: NRCan: most pine species, mainly lodgepole, ponderosa and whitebark in British Columbia. Where: NRCan: British Columbia, Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan. Colorado State Forest Service: Colorado.
Status: None stated on the three pages read. Reports: None stated. Full profile: mountain pine beetle page.
Southern pine beetleTrees: Texas A&M Forest Service: no host named for this beetle on the page read. UF/IFAS Extension: any pine species in its range, most often loblolly. Maryland Department of Agriculture: all pine species in Maryland. Where: Texas A&M Forest Service: calls it the most damaging native insect pest in United States southern forests, with no reported cases in Texas since 1998. UF/IFAS Extension: expanded into Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island since 2014.
Status: None stated on the three pages read. Reports: Maryland Department of Agriculture names the county forester and the department as contacts. Full profile: southern pine beetle page.
Ips engraver beetlesTrees: Texas A&M Forest Service: southern yellow pines. Where: Texas A&M Forest Service: East Texas, with attacks usually scattered.
Status: Not stated on the page read. Reports: No report line on the page read.
Red palm weevilTrees: APHIS report: palms, including coconut, date, oil and sago palms. Where: APHIS report: first United States detection October 15, 2010, in Laguna Beach, California; eradication from that area declared effective January 18, 2015.
Status: The 2010 APHIS report says it is considered transient, actionable and under surveillance in the United States. Defra and Fera factsheet (June 2024): regulated quarantine pest in Great Britain, where it is absent; European Union Regulated Non-Quarantine Pest since 2019. Reports: pages for the United Kingdom and the United States. Full profile: red palm weevil page.
BagwormTrees: NC State Extension: mostly conifers such as leyland cypress, arborvitae, cedar, juniper and pine, and also deciduous trees and shrubs. Where: NC State Extension: throughout North Carolina and the eastern United States. Morton Arboretum: much of the eastern half of the United States. Missouri Botanical Garden: throughout the United States.
Status: Not stated on the pages read. Reports: No report line on the pages read. Full profile: bagworm page.
Eastern tent caterpillarTrees: Penn State Extension: mainly cherry, crabapple and apple. Where: Penn State Extension: observed in the United States since 1646.
Status: Not stated on the page read. Reports: No report line on the page read.
Fall webwormTrees: Penn State Extension: almost 90 species of deciduous trees, commonly hickory, walnut, birch, cherry and crabapple. NRCan: over 100 species. Clemson Extension: over 300 hardwood tree and shrub species. Where: NRCan: Canada, with outbreaks more frequent in eastern and central North America. Penn State Extension: a widely distributed native pest.
Status: Not stated on the pages read. Reports: No report line on the pages read. Full profile: fall webworm page.
Oystershell scaleTrees: Penn State Extension: usually lilac, ash, dogwood, maple, poplar and willow; reported on more than 130 host plants. Where: Penn State Extension: throughout the United States, more common in northern states.
Status: Not stated on the page read. Reports: No report line on the page read.
Cottony maple scaleTrees: Penn State Extension: silver maple is the favored host, with many other deciduous trees attacked. Where: Not stated on the page read.
Status: Not stated on the page read. Reports: No report line on the page read.
Magnolia scaleTrees: Not named in the page text read. Where: Penn State Extension: native to the United States and widely distributed in the east.
Status: Not stated on the page read. Reports: No report line on the page read.
Viburnum leaf beetleTrees: Morton Arboretum: feeds only on viburnums. Where: Morton Arboretum: known in some eastern states since the early 1990s and reported across the Chicago region in 2015.
Status: Not stated on the page read. Reports: No report line on the page read.
Boxwood psyllidTrees: Penn State Extension: boxwood. Where: Not stated on the page read.
Status: Not stated on the page read. Reports: No report line on the page read.
Boxwood leafminerTrees: Penn State Extension: boxwood. Where: Penn State Extension: first reported in the United States as a pest in 1910 and found across the country wherever boxwood grows.
Status: Not stated on the page read. Reports: No report line on the page read.
Horse chestnut leaf minerTrees: Forest Research: horse chestnuts (Aesculus), with some maples and sycamore also attacked. Where: Forest Research: much of England and Wales, with four reported sightings in Scotland.
Status: Forest Research: no requirement to report sightings to the plant health authorities, and records from Scotland are welcomed. Reports: page for the United Kingdom. Full profile: horse chestnut leaf miner page.
European elm bark beetleTrees: NRCan: elms, mainly American elm for the European elm bark beetle. Where: NRCan: European elm bark beetle from Nova Scotia to British Columbia and most of the contiguous United States; banded elm bark beetle named alongside it.
Status: None stated for the beetle on the three pages read; it is a vector of Dutch elm disease. Reports: No report line on the pages read. Full profile: European elm bark beetle page.

How to read the table

Pests that are native to North America, such as bronze birch borer, mountain pine beetle, fall webworm and eastern tent caterpillar, are described by the pages read as native insects, and the pages carry no order. Pests without a profile page are rows because fewer than three different pages with facts specific to that pest were read for this page. Walnut twig beetle and redbay ambrosia beetle are covered inside the pages on the tree diseases they carry, not here. Treatment is not covered in the table. For who may apply pesticides, see pesticide licences, and for moving wood see moving wood and firewood.

Pests, one page each

Sources