Similarity and Specialization of the Larval versus Adult Diet of European Butterflies and Moths

Many herbivorous insects feed on plant tissues as larvae but use other resources as adults. Adult nectar feeding is an important component of the diet of many adult herbivores, but few studies have compared adult and larval feeding for broad groups of insects. We compiled a data set of larval host use and adult nectar sources for 995 butterfly and moth species (Lepidoptera) in central Europe. Using a phylogenetic generalized least squares approach, we found that those Lepidoptera that fed on a wide range of plant species as larvae were also nectar feeding on a wide range of plant species as adults. Lepidoptera that lack functional mouthparts as adults used more plant species as larval hosts, on average, than did Lepidoptera with adult mouthparts. We found that 54% of Lepidoptera include their larval host as a nectar source. By creating null models that described the similarity between larval and adult nectar sources, we furthermore showed that Lepidoptera nectar feed on their larval host more than would be expected if they fed at random on available nectar sources. Despite nutritional differences between plant tissue and nectar, we show that there are similarities between adult and larval feeding in Lepidoptera. This suggests that either behavioral or digestive constraints are retained throughout the life cycle of holometabolous herbivores, which affects host breadth and identity.