Abstract
Caged females of Neacoryphus bicrucis(Hemiptera: Lygaeidae) were permitted to settle upon and oviposit within a small or large ragwort patch, each of which contained both maturing (= adult food/water source) and dehisced (=oviposition substrate/resource for nymphs) flower heads. The proportion of females settling in the large patch was significantly greater than for the small patch but not significantly greater than expected based on the proportion of maturing flower heads contained in each patch. Also, the number of egg masses laid in each patch was proportional to the number of females that settled there. However, egg mass size was significantly skewed toward larger numbers of eggs in the larger patch. Within the large patch egg mass size was significantly larger where the number of dehisced flower heads was greater and accounts for the between-patch difference in number of eggs per mass. Thus, female settlement does not demonstrate a resource concentration effect but females do appear to evaluate patches after settlement with regard to suitability for oviposition.
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McLain, D.K. Oviposition site preference inNeacoryphus bicrucis (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae): Responses to the density and dispersion of a single host-plant species. J Insect Behav 5, 729–739 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01047983
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01047983