Phytophagous hemipterans (heteropterans) are, in general, polyphagous, feeding on a wide array of plants. Among these, less preferred plant food sources are also explored as food and/or shelter. To illustrate this, I will discuss the feeding behavior of the southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula (L.) (Pentatomidae) on less preferred plants in Northern Paraná state. This bug feeds on several uncultivated-wild, and on cultivated plants, which are less preferred, changing its feeding behavior, from a typical seed/fruit sucking habit, to leaf/stem feeding, with consequences for its nymphal and adult performance. Other seed suckers, such as Euschistus heros (F.) and Dichelops melacanthus (Dallas) (Pentatomidae) and Neomegalotomus parvus Westwood (Alydidae), also change their feeding behavior from seeds to vegetative tissues (leaf, stems) when feeding on less preferred food plants. These and other mentioned examples demonstrate that for this feeding guild in particular, the less preferred food plant sources play an important role in the life history of these bugs, and that this fact is, in general, underestimated.
Insecta; Hemiptera; Pentatomidae; host plants; nutritional ecology
