Ovipositional Host Plant Preference of Sepia officinalis

The present study was undertaken to verify ancient data in the literature on ovipositional preference o f the cuttlefish Sepia officinalis for the terrestrial plant Pistacia lentiscus (mastic tree). Adult specimens o f Sepia were placed in basins together with aerial parts not only of P. lentiscus, but also o f Artemisia arborescens, Centaurea alba var. deusta, Quercus ilex and Laurus nobilis. The egg masses deposited on the plants were quantified on a daily basis during the 16 day observation period. By far the largest amounts o f eggs were found attached to the stems and petioles o f P. lentiscus (51.8%), but Q. ilex and A. arborescens also scored high as ovipositional host plants (23.1 and 20.2% respectively). L. nobilis and C. alba var. deusta ranked very low (3.6 and 1.3% respectively). Considering the extremely divergent shape o f the three preferred oviposition substrates, which excludes affinity for a uniform type o f plant, the possibility o f chemical attraction cannot be ruled out.