Resource oviposition sites

Here, we focus upon situations where the resource is principally one of food for the larval or adult stage. Examples where the resource offers adult food as well as a mating and oviposition site will be discussed under the latter category. The twelve-spotted asparagus beetle, Crioceris duodecimpunctata, oviposits... 

By far the majority of known cases in which insects respond to chemical cues to avoid resource overcrowding involve reaction to pheromones or plant components emanating from occupied oviposition sites. 

Turning to detritivores, several species of Culex and Aedes mosquitoes are attracted to potential oviposition sites or stimulated to oviposit by pheromones emitted by conspecific eggs, larvae, or pupae (Mulla, 1979). Presumably such pheromones indicate locales of comparatively ample resources which have proved favorable to recent development of conspecifics. On the other hand, larvae of some of these same species, when overcrowded, emit chemicals which are toxic or growth-retarding to conspecifics (Mulla, 1979). How these two facets of chemical regulation of mosquito egg and larval density relate to one another and to individual fitness is uncertain and merits further study. 

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