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Choosing between good and better: optimal oviposition drives host plant selection when parents and offspring agree on best resources

  • Plant-animal interactions - Original research
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Abstract

Insect preferences for particular plant species might be subjected to trade-offs among several selective forces. Here, we evaluated, through laboratory and field experiments, the feeding and ovipositing preferences of the polyphagous leafminer Liriomyza huidobrensis (Diptera: Agromyzidae) in relation to adult and offspring performance and enemy-free space. Female leafminers preferred laying their eggs on Vicia faba (Fabaceae) over Beta vulgaris var. cicla (Chenopodiaceae), in both laboratory and field choice experiments, although no oviposition preference was observed in no-choice tests. Females fed more often on B. v. var. cicla (no-choice test) or showed no feeding preference (choice test), even when their realized fecundity was remarkably higher on V. faba. Offspring developed faster, tended to survive better, and attained bigger adult size on the preferred host plant. Also, a field experiment showed higher overall parasitism rates for leafminers developing on B. v. var. cicla, with a nonsignificant similar tendency in field surveys. According to these results, host plant selection by L. huidobrensis appears to be driven mainly by variation in host quality. Moreover, the consistent oviposition choices for the best host and the labile feeding preferences observed here, suggest that host plant selection might be driven by maximization of offspring fitness even without a conflict of interest between parents and offspring. Overall, these results highlight the complexity of decisions performed by phytophagous insects regarding their host plants, and the importance of simultaneous evaluation of the various driving forces involved, in order to unravel the adaptive significance of female choices.

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Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to Mónica Balzarini for statistical assistance, to land owners who gave permission for field experiments, and two anonymous reviewers whose comments helped in improving the manuscript. This study was supported by Secretaría de Ciencia y Técnica–Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, and by a grant from Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) to M.V. A.S. and G.V. are members of CONICET.

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  1. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (CONICET), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Vélez Sarsfield 1611, X5016GCA, Cordoba, Argentina

    Martín Videla, Graciela R. Valladares & Adriana Salvo

  2. Centro de Investigaciones Entomológicas de Córdoba, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Vélez Sarsfield 1611, X5016GCA, Cordoba, Argentina

    Martín Videla, Graciela R. Valladares & Adriana Salvo

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  1. Martín Videla
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  2. Graciela R. Valladares
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  3. Adriana Salvo
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Correspondence to Martín Videla.

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Communicated by Jérome Casas.

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Videla, M., Valladares, G.R. & Salvo, A. Choosing between good and better: optimal oviposition drives host plant selection when parents and offspring agree on best resources. Oecologia 169, 743–751 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-011-2231-6

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