Food aversion learning in the polyphagous grasshopper Schistocerca americana

The ability of the acridid Schistocerca americana (Drury) (Orthoptera: Acrididae) to learn to avoid a food when it is associated with an artificial aversive stimulus was examined. The aversive stimulus used was an injection of nicotine hydrogen tartrate at a concentration which usually did not cause knockdown. Insects learned to avoid a food which already had limited sustained acceptability. The learning was not found when the aversive stimulus followed a meal on a fully acceptable food.