Serianthes nelsonii saplings damage by tettigoniid oviposition
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On March 15, 2011, Cari Eggleston, Richard Zack and Aubrey Moore visited some Serianthes nelsonii saplings planted at the Ritidian National Wildlife Refuge, Guam. The leaders on several of the plants had died and these all had longitudinal slits of about 5 to 10 cm in length. Inside these slits we found katydid (Tettigoniidae) eggs. Members of this grasshopper family typically lay eggs in slits cut by their ovipositors for protection.
A few weeks later, similar katydid oviposition slit damage was observed on 2 of 2 Serianthes saplings growing in the Dept. of Ag. nursery in Mangilao.