We investigated the canopy recovery of 3 tree species (pedunculate oak, Turkey oak, European beech) at two locations in the Veszprém county (Western Hungary) after severe defoliation by gypsy moth caterpillars in the spring of 2005. The Turkey oak has evidently the best recovery potential, and it almost completely replaced the lost foliage in 4 months. The pedunculate oak and beech needed 2 years to reach the same level of recovery. The pedunculate oak suffered from a heavy infection of