Female preference and larval performance of sunflower moth,Homoeosoma electellum,on sunflower pre‐breeding lines

The preference–performance hypothesis for insect herbivores predicts that adult females should preferentially choose hosts on which their offspring perform better. We tested this hypothesis for the sunflower moth, Homoeosoma electellum (Hulst) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), using 16 sunflower (pre‐breeding) lines, derived from a number of wild species of Helianthus, including Helianthus annuus L., Helianthus deserticola Heiser, Helianthus paradoxus Heiser, Helianthus praecox Engelm. & Gray ssp. hirtus (Heiser) Heiser, Helianthus praecox Engelm. & Gray ssp. runyonii (Heiser) Heiser, Helianthus petiolaris Nutt., Helianthus resinosus Small, and Helianthus tuberosus L. (Asteraceae), that are suitable for introducing wild sunflower germplasm into commercial cultivars. Female moths showed a range of ovipositional preference measures to the various lines. Combined data for three Helianthus species represented by multiple lines showed significant differences in female preference with respect to the parental species. Larval performance, determined by proportion of infested neonate larvae reaching the pupal stage, or mean pupal weight, varied across the lines and, as for the female preference data, also showed significant differences among the three parental Helianthus species represented by multiple lines. These data suggest that the characteristics in the pre‐breeding lines influencing female sunflower moth preference and larval performance likely originate from the parental species and may be consistently transferred to the derived pre‐breeding lines. Of particular note with regard to potential plant resistance mechanisms, lines derived from H. tuberosus showed consistent low preference–performance measures. Female preference and larval performance (for both measures) were strongly correlated, indicating that females preferred plants and lines on which larvae performed better, in support of the preference–performance hypothesis.