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Dryad

Plant oviposition preferences in a generalist herbivore: Tests of host plant selection and the Hopkins’ host selection principle

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Oct 24, 2025 version files 60.72 KB

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Abstract

Why and how herbivorous insects choose to feed on some plant species and not others can be influenced by many factors, including an insect’s physiological state, individual preferences, or the abundance of the host plants in the environment. Yet, it is not always clear why herbivorous insect species will choose to lay their eggs on some plants over others. The Hopkins’ host selection principle (hereafter HHSP) hypothesizes that female insects prefer to lay eggs on host plants upon which they fed as larvae, but there are studies that both support and refute the hypothesis. Here, we test HHSP in a dietary generalist moth, fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea, hereafter FW). Previously, local host plant abundance has been the only factor found to determine FW host plant use; whether FW exhibit individual host plant preferences is unknown. We tested for HHSP in FW by conducting preference tests with females of the two FW morphotypes (red-head and black-head), presenting females with the same four host plants: their one natal host plant, two other potential host plants, and one non-host plant for that morphotype that is a host plant for the other morphotype. Overwhelmingly, females of both the red-head and black-head morphotypes oviposited on a non-plant surface in the choice arena rather than any plant (89% and 83%, respectively). When female FW did oviposit on a plant, they did not oviposit on hosts more often than non-hosts. Of the few FW females that oviposited on a host plant, neither morphotype showed preference for their natal hosts and thus we found no support for HHSP. Our results support previous findings that HHSP is not a driver of host plant selection, suggesting that female FW are not selective in their choice of host plants, which can facilitate generalism in this species.