Presently, resistance of wheat to the wheat stem sawfly has been limited to physical traits such as solid stems and/or stronger stem tissues. Management of the wheat stem sawfly has been partially achieved through the use of solid stemmed wheat varieties. Solid stemmed wheat reduces the level of sawfly infestation in most situations, but the pest can still infest solid stems (Morrill et al. 1994). A problem often associated with solid stem wheat is that plant resources that would otherwise be allocated to kernel production are used in stem growth, resulting in an overall smaller yield when compared with hollow stemmed wheat varieties (Weiss and Morrill 1992).

Another plant characteristic being investigated as a potential resistance trait is chemical defense or antibiosis. It has been demonstrated that both oats (Avena sativa) and wild oats (Avena fatua) are unsuitable sawfly hosts (Farstad 1940). Sawflies oviposit in oats but the larvae invariably die. Evalutation of the cause of sawfly mortality in oats is underway. Injection of oat extracts into infested wheat stems will be done in order to measure effects on sawfly larvae. Identification and isolation of the compounds responsible for antibiosis could lead to an effective sawfly management tool.