Twelve small grain lines were tested in the laboratory in the seedling stage for resistance to Oulcma melanopus (L.) by infesting plants with prediapause adults. CI 9321 and Cl 8519, which are highly pubescent wheat lines, had little seedling mortality; less-pubescent wheat lines and oat and barley lines were damaged extensively. Also, the seedling mortality was correlated (r=+0.93, df=6) with larval feeding damage to 7 wheat lines in the field. Thus, the mortality of seedlings may be used in mass screening for resistance to the cereal leaf beetle in wheat. Its use in differentiating resistance in oat and barley lines is questionable.