Terminalia mantaly (TM), is extremely susceptible to beetles attack, as evidenced by the many scars and/or tunnels on nearly all the trees in the Southern Nigeria. However, information on the responses of wood to insects tunnelling is poorly known for tropical species. To examine the response of TM stem wood to beetles tunnelling in the University of Port Harcourt, we scheduled field observational visitations and measurements daily once. The tunnelling beetles were identified as Apate terebrans. All the trees responded to tunnelling through sequential exudations of resin and gum for mean duration of 47.25±8.25 and 27.42±4.83 days, respectively. Resin significantly contained higher concentrations of compound phenol ˃ tannin ˃ terpenoids ˃ alkaloids ˃ saponin than gum while gum significantly contained elevated contents of element chloride ˃ calcium ˃ Iron ˃ lead ˃ zinc compared to resin, indicating their specificity roles in the healing scenario of TM wood to A. terebrans tunnelling. Healing period was largely positively correlated with tunnel depth (r = 0.990, p<0.000), reflecting the opportunity for greater biochemical responses during the healing process. The results suggest that the resilience of TM against insects attack is highly possible, but the possibility for further degradations by secondary agents is high.

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