AbstractThis paper attempts to use some forest stand factors to substitute the effect of natural enemies. Through the studies from more than 200 stand plots with different stand conditions in Qu County , Changshan County and Longyou County of Zhejiang Province , 16 predominant species groups from insect community were selected , and the canonical correlation coefficient between the diversity index , species number , individual number of predominant species and the stand factors was analyzed. The results indicated that the canopy density and ground vegetation were the key stand factors for characterizing the function of insect community. The forest area was divided into four types according to the variation of canopy and vegetation conditions by using cluster analysis , there were significant differences in diversity index , species number , individual number of insect community and population density of pine caterpillar among four types of forests. The regression models between the rate of variation of pine caterpillar density and the forest factors including canopy density , vegetation coverages were developed in each type of forests , the results indicated that the classification of the forest stands is reasonable , and the stand factors can characterize the effect of natural enemies inpractice.