harlequin bug

noun

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

Origin of harlequin bug

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70

Also called cabbage bug, calicoback, calico bug, harlequin cabbage bug.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for harlequin bug

harlequin bug

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