Data from: The genetic architecture of a complex ecological trait: host plant use in the specialist moth, Heliothis subflexa

We used genetic mapping to examine the genetic architecture of differences
in host plant use between two species of noctuid moths, Heliothis
subflexa, a specialist on Physalis spp., and its close relative, the broad
generalist H. virescens. We introgressed H. subflexa chromosomes into the
H. virescens background and analyzed 1,462 backcross insects. The effects
of H. subflexa-origin chromosomes were small when measured as the percent
variation explained in backcross populations (0.2 to 5%), but were larger
when considered in relation to the interspecific difference explained (1.5
to 165%). Most significant chromosomes had effects on more than one trait,
and their effects varied between years, sexes, and genetic backgrounds.
Different chromosomes could produce similar phenotypes, suggesting that
the same trait might be controlled by different chromosomes in different
backcross populations. It appears that many loci of small effect
contribute to the use of Physalis by H. subflexa. We hypothesize that
behavioral changes may have paved the way for physiological adaptation to
Physalis by the generalist ancestor of H. subflexa and H. virescens.