What happens when you encounter a plant-feeding insect or mite that you cannot identify--using your memory? As you know, it is important to properly identify a given insect or mite pest to select the appropriate insecticide or miticide. If you are “stumped,” you will likely send the sample to a diagnostic clinic, your county Extension office, or an Extension entomologist, or you will try to find a photograph in a reference that best matches your particular insect or mite. It is important to have a number of references that contain photographs of a wide variety of plant-feeding insects and mites so you can make general comparisons. Following are references that not only contain quality photographs of insects and mites but also provide information on the biology and lifecycle of insects and mites, management strategies, insecticide/miticide recommendations, and ecological concepts related to pest management. Most of these references are easily accessible from designated Web addresses.

1. Johnson, W. T., and H. H. Lyon. 1988. Insects that feed on trees and shrubs. Second edition. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY. 556 pgs. ISBN no. 0-8014-2108-X
2. Plant health care for woody ornamentals. A professional’s guide to preventing and managing environmental stresses and pests. 1997. International Society of Arboriculture, Savoy, Illinois. Cooperative Extension Service, College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL. 223 pgs. ISBN no. 1-883097-17-7
3. Pests of landscape trees and shrubs. An integrated pest management guide. 1994. University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Publication 3359. 327 pgs.
4. Cranshaw, W. 2004. Garden insects of North America. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 656 pgs. ISBN no. 0-691-09561-2
5. Integrated pest management of Midwest landscapes. Cooperative Project of NCR 193, North Central Committee on Landscape IPM, Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station SB-07645, Minneapolis, MN. 315 pgs.
6. Cloyd, R. A., P. L. Nixon, and N. R. Pataky. 2004. IPM for gardeners: A guide to integrated pest management. Timber Press, Portland, OR. 204 pgs. ISBN no. 0-88192-647-7
7. Alford, D. V. 1991. A colour atlas of pests of ornamental trees, shrubs, and flowers. Wolfe Publishing Ltd, Barcelona, Spain. 448 pgs. ISBN no. 0-7234-1643-5 (addresses primarily European insects, but many of them occur in the United States as well)