2. In the Maize News Letter for 1943, I reported on the preference of Jap beetles for liguleless‑1 leaves. During the summer of 1942 it was observed that in several different cultures segregating for lg₁ that the damage caused by the feeding of the beetles was much greater on liguleless than on normal plants. Inasmuch as all of the segregating families were descendents from one liguleless stock, it was possible that another gene in chromosome 2 was involved in the taste difference. More information on this problem was obtained when seed from a large number of selfed ears in seven open‑pollinated varieties were grown. In five of the varieties, progenies were found segregating for lg₁ and in every instance the preference of the Jap beetles for the liguleless plants was striking. The lg alleles in these five varieties probably arose as independent mutations since the varieties came from widely separated parts of the country. Apparently the lg gene makes the leaf tissue more palatable to Jap beetles as well as affecting the development of the ligule and other morphological characters.

M. M. Rhoades