Tests for induction of feeding preferences in larvae of eastern spruce budworm using extracts from three host plants

Feeding preferences to extracts from three host plants were determined for sixth-instar eastern spruce budworm larvae reared on one of three hosts or on artificial diet. Preferences of foliage-reared larvae were compared to those of diet-reared, or naive, larvae. No effect of plant induction was found using amino acids and bases and chloroform extracts on test disks in three-choice experiments. Possible effects of habituation for sugars and glycosides from white spruce were shown. Organic acids contributed to a phenomenon of avoidance learning in larvae reared on all three hosts, showing that this fraction from balsam fir was the least deterrent, while that from black spruce was the most deterrent.