Shynbolat Rsaliyev 1*, Aleksandra Kapustkina 2*, Aydarkhan Yesserkenov 1*, Amangeldy Sarbayev 1, Sholpan Bastaubaeva 1, Bakytzhan Sharipkhan 1, Saidmurat Baboev 3, Arman Baimagambetov 1,4 and Kairat Urazaliev 4
1Kazakh Research Institute of Agriculture and Plant Growing, Almalybak 040909, Kazakhstan; 2All-Russian Research Institute of Plant Protection, St. Petersburg 196608, Russia; 3Institute of Genetics and Plant Experimental Biology, Yukori Yuz 111215, Uzbekistan; 4Faculty of Agrobiology, Kazakh National Agrarian Research University, Almaty 050010, Kazakhstan
*Corresponding author: shynbolat63@mail.ru; aleksandrakapustkina@gmail.com; ajs-eserkenov@mail.ru
Monitoring surveys were conducted across different agroecosystems in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan from 2023 to 2025 to determine the species composition of cereal bugs in winter wheat, characterize phenotypic variation among local Sunn pest populations, and assess variety-specific grain damage. Researchers recorded ten bug species from five genera—Eurygaster, Aelia, Halyomorpha, Dolycoris, and Carpocoris—in winter wheat fields in the Turkestan and Tashkent regions. The Sunn pest (Eurygaster integriceps Put.) was the dominant species, accounting for 89.4% of all recorded phytophagous bugs. Researchers also detected the invasive quarantine pest, the brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys S.), in winter wheat fields, which represented 1.8% of the bug community. The results showed no clear association between phenotypic characteristics, including body pattern and background coloration, and the Sunn pest's damage potential. The increased frequency of morphotype 4 in commercial wheat fields may reflect population responses to agroecosystem conditions, including possible effects associated with cultivated wheat genotypes. Comparative evaluations under natural and artificial infestation clearly differentiated the winter wheat germplasm by grain-damage extent. ‘Bogarnaya 56’ and ‘Egemen 20’ showed the lowest grain damage and were identified as promising candidates for further resistance evaluation and breeding programs. In contrast, ‘Ilgor’, ‘OK Marvarid’, and ‘Alekseyich’ showed high susceptibility under artificial infestation and may require targeted management during periods of high Sunn pest pressure. These findings provide useful information on cereal bug diversity, Sunn pest phenotypic variation, and varietal responses and may contribute to the development of more effective integrated pest management strategies for winter wheat.