Abstract

Significant variation in injury from potato leafhopper (Empoasca fabae (Harris)) was found among red maple (Acer rubrum L.) progenies grown from seed collected in 48 stands scattered throughout the species range. Both the stand of origin and one-parent families within stands were highly significant sources of variation in degree of injury. Seedlings from far northern areas generally sustained less injury than did seedlings from more southerly sources. The broad geographic pattern of injury paralleled that found in growth initiation in previous studies, and suggests that resistance to potato leafhopper injury is at least partially phenological in nature—with those trees initiating growth earliest in the spring sustaining the least injury.