polyphagy

For the dietary behaviour term, see polyphagy.

Polyphagy often develops when an herbivore's host plants are rare as a necessity to gain enough food.

Considering that it is unusual for an insect to feed on members belonging to more than two different families , the polyphagy of this pest is remarkable.

(Bromeliacea): Polyphagy in a Cloud Forest of Veracruz, Mexico."

Browntail moth polyphagy, together with its tendency to reach outbreak densities makes this species a major pest of hardwood forests that may also attack fruit and ornamental trees.

Given S. dorsalis' broad polyphagy and long history of pestilent behavior, it has been speculated that a weed such as castor that was adopted for agriculture may have been one of several hosts of origin, and that the thrips adapted and began to exploit other hosts as they became available in the changing agricultural landscape.