'Do you remember the first time?' Host plant preference in a moth is modulated by experiences during larval feeding and adult mating.
In insects, like in other animals, experience-based modulation of preference, a form of phenotypic plasticity, is common in heterogeneous environments. However, the role of multiple fitness-relevant experiences on insect preference remains largely unexplored. For the multivoltine polyphagous moth Spodoptera littoralis we investigated effects of larval and adult experiences on subsequent reproductive behaviours. We demonstrate, for the first time in male and female insects, that mating experience on a plant modulates plant preference in subsequent reproductive behaviours, whereas exposure to the plant alone or plant together with sex pheromone does not affect this preference. When including larval feeding experiences, we found that both larval rearing and adult mating experiences modulate host plant preference. These findings represent the first evidence that host plant preferences in polyphagous insects are determined by a combination of innate preferences modulated by sensory feedback triggered by multiple rewarding experiences throughout their lifetime.
Chemical Ecology, Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, Sweden; Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), UMR 5175, CNRS - Université de Montpellier - Université Paul Valéry Montpellier - EPHE, 1919 route de Mende, 34293, Montpellier, cedex 5, France.
Magali
M
Proffit
Mohammed A
MA
Khallaf
David
D
Carrasco
Mattias C
MC
Larsson
Peter
P
Anderson
D000818:Animals; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences; D060434:Herbivory; D007814:Larva; D008297:Male; D010058:Oviposition; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000502:physiology; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D018411:Spodoptera / Q000502:physiology*
D012724:Sex Attractants
Larval experience; Spodoptera littoralis; male mate selection; mating experience; oviposition preference; phenotypic plasticity; plant preference; polyphagous herbivore