AbstractIn order to study behavior of insect herbivory and its damage to leaves, we investigated herbivory patterns on the leaves of 11 evergreen plant species in subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests of Tiantong National Forest Park, Zhejiang Province. The results were as follows: (1) A total of 16 herbivory patterns were found, and for each tree species, herbivory patterns ranged from 10 to 13. The frequency of each herbivory patterns varied from 0.5% to 28.7%. The frequency of Edge Defoliation (ED) was the highest (28.7%), while that of Gall and Bloth-shaped mine (BM) were the lowest (0.5%). (2) Three distribution patterns could be classified according to the number of dominant herbivory patterns in a tree species: mono-dominant distribution (with only one dominant pattern), such as Edge Defoliation on Rhododendron ovatum and Loropetalum chinense leaves; bi-dominant (with two dominant patterns), such as Edge Defoliation and Top Defoliation on Schima superba leaves; and multi-dominant (with three or more dominant herbivory patterns), such as in the other eight tree species. (3) Shannon-Wiener diversity index of herbivory patterns varied from 1.57 to 2.23 among 11 tree species, with the highest in Castanopsis sclerophylla and the lowest in Rhododendron ovatum. Shannon-Wiener diversity index was higher in the six arbor species (2.040) than in five shrub species (1.882), and higher in dominant species than in companion species, however, the differences were not significant. (4) Correlation analysis showed that there were significant positive correlations among eight pairs of herbivory patterns and significant negative correlation among four pairs, suggesting similarities and differences in selection by herbivorous insects.