Oviposition Preference for Young Plants by the Large Cabbage Butterfly (Pieris brassicae ) Does not Strongly Correlate with Caterpillar Performance.

ABSTRACT: The effects of temporal variation in the quality of short-lived annual plants on oviposition preference and larval performance of insect herbivores has thus far received little attention. This study examines the effects of plant age on female oviposition preference and offspring performance in the large cabbage white butterfly Pieris brassicae. Adult female butterflies lay variable clusters of eggs on the underside of short-lived annual species in the family Brassicaceae, including the short-lived annuals Brassica nigra and Sinapis arvensis, which are important food plants for P. brassicae in The Netherlands. Here, we compared oviposition preference and larval performance of P. brassicae on three age classes (young, mature, and pre-senescing) of B. nigra and S. arvensis plants. Oviposition

SUBMITTER: Fei M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5501907 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature