Wheat Wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain which is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus Triticum; the most widely grown is common wheat ("T. aestivum"). The archaeological record suggests that wheat was first cultivated in the regions of the Fertile Crescent around 9600 BCE. Botanically, the wheat kernel is a type of fruit called a caryopsis. Wheat is grown on more land area than any other food crop (220.4 million hectares, 2014). World trade in wheat is greater than for all other crops combined. In 2016,
Cereal leaf beetle Cereal leaf beetle The cereal leaf beetle ("Oulema melanopus") is a significant crop pest, described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. One generation of this beetle is produced a year. Adults feed before winter and spend most of their overwintering time in protected areas such as wind rows, crop stubble, and tree bark crevices. Adults mate once the temperature warms to above 9–10 degrees Celsius (or 44.6 degrees F) and females have a relatively long laying period (about 45–60 days), when they deposit eggs on the undersides of leaves. The larvae hatch in 7–15 days, and start the most damaging eating