Phenotyping of cereal grasses as food resources for the bird cherry-oat aphid Rhopalosiphum padi

Background. Cereal grasses are an integral component of not only natural but also anthropogenic cenoses as weeds or cultivated crops. Of these, 183 species are included in the range of food plants for the bird cherry-oat aphid Rhopalosiphum padi (L.), which damages cereal crops. In this regard, studying them as alternative hosts for aphids is of particular relevance.
Material and methods. Fourteen wild and cultivated species of grasses, including those from the VIR collection, were phenotyped on the basis of calculating the number and the winging in the offspring of summer apterae R. padi from the northw estern and Krasnodar populations under model experimental conditions. The development parameters of aphids were determined after the first 14 days of aphid reproduction. The results were assessed using generally accepted methods of variance and correlation analyses.
Results. Groups of grasses that support the reproduction and dispersal of R. pad i to varying degrees were identified. Among them, Echino chloa crus-galli (L.) Beauv. was ranked among the least favorable hosts, where the number of R. padi, both from the northwestern and Krasnodar populations, was the lowest (33.3 ± 6.0; 41.6 ± 2.2 offspring), and the offspring winging was high (31.8%; 32.6%). Poa tr ivialis L. (236.7 ± 34.9; 181.7 ± 23.9 and 15.9%; 20.4%, respectively), along with wheat (cv. ‘Leningradskaya 6’) and maize (hybrid ‘Voronezhsky 158’), were classified as the most favorable hosts. The formation of the number of R. padi offspring of both populations was significantly influenced by plant characteristics, clonal differences, and the geographic origin of the aphids; winging in offspring, by the host plant.
Conclusion. The selected groups of grasses require monitoring as alternative hosts for R. padi.

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