Host selection by Manduca sexta

Most studies focusing on oviposition in lepidopterans have examined the insect’s evaluation of plant suitability, the resulting subsequent plant acceptance or rejection, and learning from oviposition experience. Especially studies on oviposition learning suggest that experienced moths might exhibit oviposition constancy, i.e. despite naïve moths being generalists, they finally lay most of their eggs on a host they have already experienced.

However, whether and how these insects transition between different host species remains poorly explored. Here, we investigated the tobacco hawkmoth, Manduca sexta, with two well-known hosts (Solanaceae) and a less studied one (Martyniaceae). When investigating their oviposition behavior in wind-tunnel and semi-natural tent assays, we observed that hawkmoths revisit both individual leaves in the wind tunnel and plant clusters in the tents several times before they search for another host.