Latitudinal trends in oviposition preferences: ecological and genetic influences

The acceptability of host plants by ovipositing insects can be determined by a balance of various internal and external excitatory factors (Miller & Strickler, 1984). However, insects are generally assumed to be more “hard-wired”, with regard to sensory physiology, genetics, detoxification systems and historically constrained phylogenies of host selection due to chemical constraints on their evolution (Feeny, 1991). The divergence of insect preferences for certain plants results from physiological, biochemical, and behavioral adaptations to plant availability, acceptability, and suitability, which in turn are determined by the interactions of the plant nutrients and allelochemicals, the associated community of natural enemies and/or competitors and various abiotic factors such as microclimate or seasonal thermal unit accumulations affecting latitudinal voltinism and feeding specialization patterns (Scriber & Lederhouse, 1992).