FOOD TASTES AND TOXIC EFFECTS - ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING BY THE POLYPHAGOUS GRASSHOPPER SCHISTOCERCA-AMERICANA (DRURY) (ORTHOPTERA, ACRIDIDAE)

Individuals of the polyphagous grasshopper Schistocerca americana ate less of a novel plant food when the first meal on the food was followed by an injection of one of four plant secondary compounds or lithium chloride. Tests with a control group of insects indicated that this reduction in consumption was not due to direct non-associative effects of injected compounds on acceptability of the food. The learned association of the food with the effects of an injected compound was retained for at least 2 days but not 4. Insects learned to associate the novel foods spinach and onion with aversive stimuli, but did not learn to eat less blackberry, which appeared to be the most palatable of the foods on first contact. © 1990 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.