Foliar insect damage levels on woody sprouts in the ground layer of tw
o tropical eucalypt forest communities on Melville Island were between
7.8 and 43.2%. Of eight common tree species, Eucalyptus confertiflora
was damaged most by insects and Buchanania obovata and Terminalia fer
dinandiana the least. Seasonal trends in insect damage were not consis
tent between plant species and were not always consistent between vege
tation types for a particular plant species. The results of this study
are not consistent with hypotheses suggesting that insect grazing is
a critical determinant of tree species dominance or woody sprout dorma
ncy.