title: A general model for host plant selection in phytophagous insects.
abstract: We develop a general theoretical framework for exploring the host plant selection behaviour of herbivorous insects. This model can be used to address a number of questions, including the evolution of specialists, generalists, preference hierarchies, and learning. We use our model to: (i) demonstrate the consequences of the extent to which the reproductive success of a foraging female is limited by the rate at which they find host plants (host limitation) or the number of eggs they carry (egg limitation); (ii) emphasize the different consequences of variation in behaviour before and after landing on (locating) a host (termed pre- and post-alighting, respectively); (iii) show that, in contrast to previous predictions, learning can be favoured in post-alighting behaviour--in particular, individuals can be selected to concentrate oviposition on an abundant low-quality host, whilst ignoring a rare higher-quality host; (iv) emphasize the importance of interactions between mechanisms in favouring specialization or learning.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK. stu.west@ed.ac.uk
authors.forename: Stuart A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: West
authors.forename: J Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Cunningham
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002755:Choice Behavior; D007313:Insecta / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D010058:Oviposition; D010944:Plants