Since the formation of an entomology section at the former Forest Products Laboratory, Princes Risborough, the Laboratory has been called upon to identify and comment upon a wide range of insects and insect damage in imported timber. Very often only the damage remains and frequently dead insects are associated with it, but on other occasions living exotic wood-boring insects enter the UK. Following a request made at the 1977 meeting of the IRG, we have compiled a list of living exotic timber insects intercepted and sent to the Laboratory since 1945. This compilation has resulted from an examination of clerical records made over the years and the information recorded was frequently incomplete. In the best authenticated instances, live larvae were recovered from identified timber species of known country of origin and reared through to adults for identification, but in many cases isolated adult beetles were sent to the Laboratory from unknown timbers.·Frequently the records do not indicate whether larvae or adults were found. The list shows host timbers and area of origin only where this information was reliably known. The important question concerning live introductions is of course whether the insects are capable of becoming established in this country. This will depend not only on such factors as climatic requirements and availability of suitable host species but also on the frequency, and density of the introductions. Clearly some of the species, such as various Lyctus sp. have long become established here. It would be fascinating to speculate on the potential of some of the species in our list to become established but this lies outside the scope of the present short note.

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