defoliators
Plants' leafy nemeses
Defoliators are insects or other organisms that strip leaves from plants.
The term appears mainly in forestry and agriculture, where defoliators like gypsy moths or tent caterpillars can devastate trees across wide areas: The outbreak of defoliators destroyed thousands of acres of oak forest.
Chemical defoliants achieve the same effect artificially.
Larval moths or butterflies
- mothsNocturnal lepidopterans
- beetlesHard-winged insects
- sawfliesHerbivorous wasp cousins
- locustsSwarming crop-destroying grasshoppers
bagworm · leafminers · larvae · grubs · borers · herbivores · chewers · munchers
Woody plants with trunks
- forestTree-dense ecosystem
- canopyOverhead protective covering
- woodlandForested land area
- timberWood for construction
deciduous · evergreen · conifers · hardwoods · arboriculture · silviculture · monitoring · supp
Plant consumption by animals
- skeletonizingReducing to structural remains
- diebackPlant tissue dying progressively
- mortalityState of eventual death
- strippedHad coverings removed
denuded · weakening · vulnerability · recovery · regrowth · susceptibility
caterpillars
Larval moths or butterflies
locusts · bagworm · leafminers · larvae · grubs · borers · herbivores · chewers · munchers · infestation
trees
Woody plants with trunks
timber · deciduous · evergreen · conifers · hardwoods · arboriculture · silviculture · monitoring · supp
herbivory
Plant consumption by animals
- skeletonizingReducing to structural remains
- diebackPlant tissue dying progressively
- mortalityState of eventual death
stripped · denuded · weakening · vulnerability · recovery · regrowth · susceptibility
defoliatorspollinators
Organisms transferring reproductive dust
mycorrhizae · beneficial insects · earthworms · predatory insects · ladybugs