-~44- the point of disrupting the normal growth pattern." Onotoa Atoll, Mout 48) observed that several insects were found on Guettarda plants. stink bugs, On These included wasps, and butterflies. moths, Moul reported also that leaves of Pigonia trees were so badly damaged by leaf cutting bees that he could not find a perfect specimen of foliage. At Rongelap Atoll members of this Laboratory noted infestations of a lepidopteran larva causing deformed leaves on Guettarda plants. They also reported that insects caused defoliation and bud damage in plants of Terminalia sp. and Pisonia. The bird population also is a factor in the production of unhealthy plants. Niering reported that at Kapingamarangi Atoll the leaves of Asplenium, Nephrolepis, Guettarda and Pisonia were turning brown and dying because of the fecal droppings of the white-capped noddy tern marcusi). (Anous minutus He reported that the breadfruit tree also is dam- aged by these birds. On Canton Island the suggestion was made that the native birds were chiefly responsible for the dead or dying conditions of the forest and scrub vegetation (13) , Other agencies also have been reported to cause chlorosis, die-back, slow growth, aberrant growth forms, and other kinds