Lipid Soluble Pigments of Wheat Plants as Related to Hessian Fly Infestation.

Abstract
The dark blue-green color of center leaves of wheat plants is a visual manifestation of Hessian fly infestation. This work reports observations on the relationship of pigment concentration to Hessian fly infestation. Center leaves of infested plants contained greater percentages of chlorophyll, carotene and xanthophyll than either the outer leaves of infested plants or comparable leaves of uninfested plants. The center (younger) leaves of uninfested plants contained less of these pigments than the outer leaves of the same plants. The ratios of chlorophyll a to b in both inner and outer leaves were higher for uninfested plants than for infested plants. The unnatural dark blue-green color of the center leaves of Hessian fly infested wheat plants may be due to the higher concentrations of chlorophyll a and b. There was no apparent relation between concentration of any of these pigments and resistance among wheat varieties to Hessian fly attack.