Winter Wheat Cold Hardiness And Fructan Reserves Affected By Rhopalosiphum Padi (Homoptera: Aphididae) Feeding

The cold hardiness of 'Winoka' and 'Genesee' winter wheats was each significantly less (P = 0.05) when fed upon by bird-cherry oat aphids, Rhopalosiphum padi, than non-infested seedlings. Aphid feeding also reduced the amount of fructans in crown tissue ca. 20% compared to extracts from crowns of non-infested seedlings. It appears that the cold hardiness of these wheat cultivars may have been reduced because of fructan depletion by insect feeding.