Data, programming code and figure file for Homem-de-Carvalho et al. (2025): "A review and meta-analysis of host-plant selection by lepidopteran larvae: no evidence of diet breadth constraints on larval decision-making"

Information processing by herbivorous insects can impair the accuracy of decision-making during host-plant selection. Consequently, insects with a narrower diet breadth are expected to be more accurate decision-makers, as they cope with a smaller set of relevant stimuli. However, in groups in which larvae and adults have distinct ecological specializations (<i>e.g.</i>, Lepidoptera) it remains to be explored whether these constraints on adult female decision-making also occur at the larval stage. Here, we conducted a systematic review and a meta-analysis to assess the decision-making accuracy of lepidopteran larvae exposed to host-plant olfactory and visual cues. Our meta-analysis showed that caterpillars, irrespective of diet breadth, were consistently accurate in discriminating among their host plants through olfaction. Moreover, our review identified different scenarios in which larval vision plays an important role in host-plant selection, sometimes even as a priority over olfactory information. Our results highlight how caterpillars integrate different sensory modalities to accurately locate their host plants, and indicate that ecological constraints in host-plant selection may vary across insect life stages.

植食性昆虫的信息处理过程可能会损害其在寄主植物选择过程中的决策准确性。因此，食性范围更窄的昆虫被认为拥有更高的决策准确性，因为它们需要处理的相关刺激物集合更小。然而，在幼虫与成虫具有截然不同的生态特化的类群（例如鳞翅目（Lepidoptera））中，这类对雌性成虫决策的限制是否同样存在于幼虫阶段，仍有待探索。本研究通过系统综述与元分析（meta-analysis），评估了暴露于寄主植物嗅觉与视觉信号下的鳞翅目幼虫的决策准确性。本项元分析结果显示，无论食性宽度如何，毛虫均能通过嗅觉稳定且准确地区分各类寄主植物。此外，本综述揭示了多种幼虫视觉在寄主植物选择中发挥重要作用的场景，有时其优先级甚至高于嗅觉信息。本研究结果阐明了毛虫如何整合不同的感觉模态以精准定位寄主植物，并表明寄主植物选择相关的生态限制可能因昆虫的生活阶段不同而存在差异。