The kudzu bug (KZB), Megacopta punctatissima Montandon 1896, is a newly invasive Asian pest of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] in the southeastern United States. Due to the unique biology of this soybean pest, six screening techniques were tested to identify host plant resistance (HPR) to KZB. Soybean lines previously characterized as resistant to either leaf‐chewing or piercing–sucking insects were used to test screening techniques and to identify potential sources of KZB resistance. Four open field experiments and one field cage experiment were conducted in 2010 to 2013 to screen ‘Benning’ near‐isogenic lines (NILs) for KZB resistance. These NILs possess different combinations of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for resistance to leaf‐chewing insects from PI 229358 (QTLs M, G, and H) and PI 227687 (QTL E); however, none of these lines were consistently effective at controlling KZB. Additionally, 30 plant introductions (PIs) with previously observed resistance to either the soybean aphid (Aphis glycines Matsumura) or the silverleaf whitefly (Bemisia tabaci Gennadius) were screened in the field for KZB resistance. Six lines were identified as potential sources of resistance to KZB from this field using a KZB index. A no‐choice (antibiosis) assay was developed to confirm resistance observations from the field and to characterize the type of host plant resistance. PI 567336A and PI 567598B were confirmed as the most resistant of the screened PIs, and were characterized as having antibiosis resistance to KZB.

Two soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] germplasm lines, Benning-ME (Reg. No. GP-405, PI 679958) and Benning-MGHE (Reg. No. GP-406, PI 679959), were developed by the University of Georgia Agricultural Experiment Stations.Control of insect pests is crucial in soybean production; hostplant resistance reduces the need for insecticide applications, thus diminishing production costs and pesticide concerns. In soybean, resistance to a broad range of leaf-chewing insects is found in the Japanese accessions PI 229358 and PI 227687. In PI 229358, resistance is conferred by quantitative trait loci (QTLs) M, H, and G. In PI 227687, resistance is conferred by QTL-E. To enhance soybean resistance to leafchewing insects, QTLs of PI 229358 and PI 227687 were pyramided in Benning-ME and Benning-MGHE, which are near-isogenic lines of 'Benning' obtained through markerassisted backcrossing. Under ield conditions, Benning-ME and Benning-MGHE sustain 67 and 57% less defoliation than Benning, respectively. To determine the QTL introgressions in each line, high-density single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotypes were obtained using the SoySNP50K iSelect BeadChip (Illumina). To facilitate selection of lines carrying a speciic QTL pyramid, Kompetitive Allele Speciic Polymerase Chain Reaction markers were developed for high-throughput genotyping. These lines are valuable genetic resources for breeding of host-plant resistance to insects in soybean. The combination of QTL-M and QTL-E provides agriculturally relevant levels of resistance, and with only two loci, the use of this pyramid is feasible in a breeding program.