Fall armyworm females choose host plants that are detrimental to their offspring's performance but young larvae amend their mother's choices

Abstract Fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), has a long association with maize ( Zea mays mays L., Poaceae) and is among the crop's most significant pests worldwide. We contrasted the preference for and performance of FAW on three maize cultivars: the Mexican landrace Tuxpeño, the USA inbred B73 and B73‐lox10; B73‐lox10 is deficient in production of jasmonic acid (JA), green leaf volatiles (GLVs) and herbivore‐induced plant volatiles (HIPVs). Female oviposition and neonate colonization preferences were assessed in triple‐choice tests in greenhouse settings. Performance was assessed on the bases of larval, pupal and adult weights, larval and pupal development times, and adult longevity. We expected females to preferentially oviposit on plants on which their offspring performed best, and neonates to randomly colonize plants because they disperse aerially, presumably oriented solely by wind currents. Females preferred to oviposit on Tuxpeño plants, followed by B73‐lox10 and B73 plants, whereas their offspring performed best on B73‐lox10 and poorest on Tuxpeño. In contrast, neonates preferentially colonized plants on which they performed best, B73‐lox10, though initially and transiently they colonized plants on which they performed poorly, B73 and Tuxpeño. Altogether, our results showed that FAW females preferred to oviposit on maize plants on which their offspring's performance was poorest (Tuxpeño), and neonates preferentially colonized plants on which their own performance was best (B73‐lox10), though they initially colonized plants that were detrimental to their performance (Tuxpeño, B73). These results suggested that the ovipositional choices of FAW mothers are uncoupled from their offspring's performance, but newborn offspring rectified their mother's sub‐optimal host plant choice by colonizing plants that enhanced their own performance. Notably, these results also suggested that aerially dispersing (ballooning) FAW larvae do not colonize plants randomly, and that plant volatiles (GLVs, HIPVs) and JA may be relevant to host plant selection by ballooning larvae.