- Q4-1.
- Can you tell from feeding traces whether the damage occurred while the plant was alive or after it had died?
- A4-1.
- Yes—sometimes. If the damage shows signs of the plant’s healing response, it likely happened while the plant was still alive.
- Q4-2.
- What is “reaction tissue”?
- A4-2.
- Reaction tissue is the visible thickening, hardening, or darkening of plant tissue that forms around a wound when a leaf is eaten while the plant is still alive.
Explanation
When a plant is eaten while living, it can respond by producing reaction tissue around the wound. This may appear as thickened, hardened, or darkened tissue along the edge of the damage. Because such changes can only form in living tissue, they provide strong evidence of pre-mortem feeding.
If no reaction tissue is present, the damage may have occurred after the leaf had died—but researchers must also consider preservation and other factors before drawing conclusions.