  We use the halo occupation distribution (HOD) framework to characterise the
predictions from two independent galaxy formation models for the galactic
content of dark matter haloes and its evolution with redshift. Our galaxy
samples correspond to a range of fixed number densities defined by stellar mass
and span $0 \le z \le 3$. We find remarkable similarities between the model
predictions. Differences arise at low galaxy number densities which are
sensitive to the treatment of heating of the hot halo by active galactic
nuclei. The evolution of the form of the HOD can be described in a relatively
simple way, and we model each HOD parameter using its value at $z=0$ and an
additional evolutionary parameter. In particular, we find that the ratio
between the characteristic halo masses for hosting central and satellite
galaxies can serve as a sensitive diagnostic for galaxy evolution models. Our
results can be used to test and develop empirical studies of galaxy evolution
and can facilitate the construction of mock galaxy catalogues for future
surveys.
