Drought represents one of the most severe constraints to agricultural production; therefore, resistance to drought has the highest priority in the development of new cultivars. How insect pests respond to drought-resistant cultivars is poorly understood. In this study, by using the rose-grain aphid, Metopolophium dirhodum (Walker), in controlled laboratory conditions, we investigated the level of antibiosis of six commercially available cultivars of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), which differed in their resistance to drought (drought-resistant cultivars: Septima, Jarissa and Seance; drought-sensitive cultivars: Quintus, Kabot and SW Kadrilj). Leaf morphological and structural traits were also measured for each cultivar to determine which leaf traits may be responsible for the observed differences. We used an age-stage, two-sex life table approach for comprehensive quantification of the aphid response to a particular cultivar and for projecting population growth. Although we found significant differences in all the life table and population growth parameters between the cultivars (SW Kadrilj was the most resistant to the aphids and Septima and Quintus were the most susceptible to the aphids), resistance to drought alone did not explain the observed variation. The cultivars also varied in most of the morphological and structural leaf traits measured. An increase in cuticle thickness at the cell junction above the major vein hampered the development of the aphid nymphs, which resulted in slower rates of population increase. Trichome density seemed to reduce the survival of the aphid nymphs. These two traits support not only drought resistance in general but also resistance to aphids and are potentially useful for selection in the future breeding of cereals.

干旱是对农业生产的最严重限制之一。因此，在新品种的开发中，抗旱具有最高的优先级。人们对害虫如何对抗旱品种的反应知之甚少。在这项研究中，通过在控制的实验室条件下使用玫瑰谷物蚜虫Metopolophium dirhodum（Walker），我们研究了六种市售春小麦品种（Triticum aestivum）的抗菌水平。L.），其抗旱性有所不同（抗旱品种：Septima，Jarissa和Seance；干旱敏感品种：Quintus，Kabot和SW Kadrilj）。还测量了每个品种的叶片形态和结构性状，以确定哪些叶片性状可能是所观察到的差异的原因。我们使用年龄阶段，两性寿命表方法对蚜虫对特定品种的反应进行全面定量，并预测种群的增长。尽管我们发现不同品种的所有生命表和种群增长参数存在显着差异（SW Kadrilj对蚜虫的抵抗力最强，Septima和Quintus对蚜虫的抵抗力最强），但仅对干旱的抵抗力并不能解释观察到的变异。所测品种的大多数形态和结构叶片性状也有所不同。在大静脉上方的细胞交界处，表皮厚度的增加阻碍了蚜虫若虫的发育，这导致种群增加的速度变慢。赤眼蜂的密度似乎减少了蚜虫若虫的存活。这两个性状不仅支持一般的抗旱性，而且还支持对蚜虫的抗性，并可能在将来的谷物育种中有用。