Differential feeding by grasshoppers and levels of foliar diseases in various cultivars of spring cereals

Abstract Sixty-four cultivars and strains of cereals were evaluated under field conditions for differential feeding by grasshoppers, (Orthoptera:: Acrididae) and for their resistance to foliar disease. Grasshoppers actively fed on all triticale and durum wheat lines, on 11 of 12 bread wheat lines, and on 11 of 24 barley lines. Both the incidence and severity of foliar disease were high in all cereals. There was no correlation between grasshopper damage and resistance to foliar disease ( r + −0·059) in the barley but a positive trend appeared in wheat lines (bread r = +0·487; durum r = +0·295). The data suggest that present trends in breeding disease-resistant cereal cultivars will not introduce increased susceptibility to grasshopper damage.