IDENTIFICATION IN AEGILOPS SPECIES OF RESISTANT SOURCES TO HESSIAN FLY (DIPTERA, CECIDOMYIIDAE) IN MOROCCO

Hessian fly, Mayetiola destructor (Say), is the major insect pest of w heat in Morocco. Host plant resistance has been the most effective and practical method of controlling this pest. When 347 accessions of Aeg ilops species were screened in the greenhouse for resistance to Hessia n fly, several accessions of Ae. geniculata Roth, Ae. triuncialis L., Ae. neglecta Req.ex Bertol., Ae. ventricosa Tausch, Ae. cylindrica Hos t and Ae. markgrafii (Greuter) Hammer showed resistance reaction. All expressed antibiosis as the mechanism of resistance against first inst ar Hessian fly larvae. These Aegilops sources of resistance could be e xploited for transferring Hessian fly resistance to wheat.