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Induced preference for host plant chemicals in the tobacco hornworm: contribution of olfaction and taste

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Abstract

Many herbivorous insects induce preferences for host plants. Recent work in Manduca sexta indicates that induced preferences are mediated by a “tuning” of the peripheral taste system to chemicals within host plant foliage. We tested this hypothesis by rearing caterpillars on artificial diet or potato foliage, and then examining olfactory- and taste-mediated responses to potato foliage extract. First, we confirmed earlier reports that consumption of potato foliage tunes the peripheral taste system by reducing responsiveness to glucose and increasing responsiveness to foliage extract. Second, we offered caterpillars a choice between disks treated with foliage extract (experimental) or solvent alone (control). The foliage-reared caterpillars approached and consumed the experimental disks disproportionately, whereas the diet-reared caterpillars approached and consumed both disks indiscriminately. This indicated that induced preferences involve olfaction and taste. Third, we ran choice tests with foliage-reared caterpillars deprived of either olfactory or gustatory input. Caterpillars lacking olfactory input approached both disks indiscriminately, but fed selectively on experimental disks. In contrast, caterpillars lacking gustatory input approached experimental disks selectively, but fed indiscriminately on both types of disk. We conclude that even though olfaction helps caterpillars locate potato foliage, it is the “tuned” gustatory response that ultimately mediates the induced preference.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Alan Renwick for help making the potato leaf extract, and Martha Weiss for editorial comments. This project was supported in part by research grant number 5 R29 DC 02416 from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health (to JIG). The experiments comply with the National Institutes of Health “Principles of Animal Care,” publication No. 86-23, revised 1985.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Barnard College, Columbia University, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    John I. Glendinning, Cassidy Foley, Irina Loncar & Meelu Rai

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  1. John I. Glendinning
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Correspondence to John I. Glendinning.

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Glendinning, J.I., Foley, C., Loncar, I. et al. Induced preference for host plant chemicals in the tobacco hornworm: contribution of olfaction and taste. J Comp Physiol A 195, 591–601 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-009-0434-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-009-0434-7

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