harlequin bug

American

noun

a black stink bug, Murgantia histrionica, having red and yellow markings, that feeds on cabbages and other cruciferous plants.

harlequin bug British

noun

a brightly coloured heteropterous insect, Murgantia histrionica, of the US and Central America: a pest of cabbages and related plants: family Pentatomidae

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of harlequin bug

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70

Example Sentences

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harlequin bug

This is called the harlequin bug from its fantastic appearance.

From The Library of Work and Play: Gardening and Farming. by Ellen Eddy Shaw

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023