cereal leaf beetle

American  

noun

1. an Old World leaf beetle, Oulema melanopus, introduced into North America in 1962: a serious pest of small grains, especially oats and cereal grasses.

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Etymology

Origin of cereal leaf beetle

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

Sanford Eigenbrode, an entomologist at the University of Idaho in Moscow, is studying parasitic wasps that attack the cereal leaf beetle, a pest of wheat throughout the northwestern United States.

From Nature • Sep. 25, 2013