A study was conducted to assess the roles of snags as substrate for invertebrate communities. The study was conducted in the Holt forest in Arrowsic, ME in 1996 and 1997. The boles of live and standing dead trees were sampled by brushing invertebrates into a cup containing alcohol. Invertebrates were sorted into morphologically distinct groupings (morphs). Half of the trees in each category were red oaks and half were white pine. Each tree was characterized by it’s DBH and relative amounts of lichen, moss, and fungi, and the proportion of sample area covered by bark (on snags). The red oaks had higher amounts of moss than the white pines. Live trees had higher amounts of lichen than did the snags. The total number of invertebrates on white pine snags was lower than the total the number recovered from live white pine, live red oaks or red oak snags. The latter three classes were comparable. Other variables that contributed positively to the number of invertebrates recovered included the area sampled, the proportion of bole covered with bark, and the amount of lichen on the bole. Moss was correlated with the abundance of individual taxa. Mites (Acarina) and springtails (Collembola) were by far the most common taxa. Other less common taxa included bark lice (Psocoptera), true flies (Diptera), millipedes (Diplopoda) and spiders (Araneida). Most morphs either preferred red oak, or displayed no preference. Few preferred white pine. Preferences for snags versus live trees ran the gamut.