VARIATION IN ALLIUM SPP DAMAGE BY ONION MAGGOT

Nearly 350 germplasm accessions representing 25 Allium species were ev aluated for damage by onion maggot (OM) [Delia antiqua (Meigen)] in fi eld experiments in 1989. In 1990, 188 additional accessions and breedi ng lines were evaluated, and 36 entries from the 1989 evaluation were re-evaluated, In both years, there were no significant differences in OM damage to seedlings among accessions within the species tested, How ever, differences among species were highly significant, Allium cepa L . (bulb onion) seedlings had consistently high OM damage. Species with significantly less seedling damage than A. cepa included: A. altaicum Pall., A. angulosum L., A. galanthum Kar. & Kir., A. pskemense B. Fed tsch,, A. scorodoprasum L., A. ampeloprasum L. (leek), A. fistulosum L . (bunching onion), A. schoenoprasum L. (chive), and A. tuberosum Rott l. ex Spr. (garlic chive). Some species sustaining minimal damage as s eedlings were nonetheless heavily damaged as mature plants by a later generation of OM. Allium cepa cultivars that were well-adapted to loca l conditions were heavily damaged as seedlings, but their bulbs were l ess damaged than those of poorly adapted A. cepa germplasm. Allium amp eloprasum seedlings and mature plants sustained low injury throughout both growing seasons.