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Colorado potato beetle

American  

noun

  1. a black and yellow leaf beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, originally of Colorado and neighboring states but now a common pest in all potato-growing regions of the U.S.


Etymology

Origin of Colorado potato beetle

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

In turn, the bean plants protect potato buds from the Colorado potato beetle.

From Salon May 30, 2022

One day you might find yourself screaming obscenities and flapping your arms in the air like a deranged chicken in response to a Colorado potato beetle outbreak.

From Seattle Times May 13, 2022

Garden pests are often highly specialized and named after their favorite food: cabbageworm, corn earworm, tomato hornworm, Colorado potato beetle, cucumber beetle, pea weevil, pepper maggot, Mexican bean beetle, and so on.

From Salon Aug. 8, 2021

The corn rootworm, the Colorado potato beetle and soybean aphids all thrive best on the crops that give them their names.

From Washington Post Mar. 2, 2016

Agriculture, carried on with irrigation, suffers from insect plagues like the Colorado potato beetle.

From The Nuttall Encyclopædia Being a Concise and Comprehensive Dictionary of General Knowledge by Nuttall, P. Austin

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