khapra beetle

[ kah-pruh, kap-ruh ]

/ ˈkɑ prə, ˈkæp rə /

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noun

a tiny cosmopolitan beetle, Trogoderma granarium, that is a pest of stored grain and other dried organic matter.

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Origin of khapra beetle

First recorded in 1895–1900; from Hindi khaprā “destroyer” + beetle¹

Blister rust is like having the flu; the pine beetle is like fast acting leukemia.
What It Takes to Kill a Grizzly Bear|Doug Peacock|November 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In 2007, FWS reported that the beetle outbreak had affected only 16 percent of the whitebark pines.
What It Takes to Kill a Grizzly Bear|Doug Peacock|November 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Beetle was launched with a series of television commercials unlike any before them.
Nationalism on Four Wheels|Clive Irving|October 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Who could turn down a seaside drive in a bright yellow Beetle?
World-Famous Architects Design Dollhouses For New Charity Project|Chloë Ashby|November 1, 2013|DAILY BEAST

The rhino beetle—fried, stewed, grilled, or roasted—is high in calcium and protein.
Cicadas, Grasshoppers, Locusts, Ants Among the Tastiest Insects|Nina Strochlic|May 14, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Her feet crush creeping things: there is a busy ant or blazoned beetle, with its back broken, writhing in the dust, unseen.
God and my Neighbour|Robert Blatchford
But strangest of all the dishes at the Tagal's feast was one prepared from a kind of beetle.
Alila, Our Little Philippine Cousin|Mary Hazelton Wade
Then the juice would fill up the hole the beetle had made, and the tree would go on growing as before.
The Wonder Book of Knowledge|Various
There was a toy balloon, a beetle that ran all over the room in a life-like manner, a jumping jack, and some popcorn balls.
The Story of the Big Front Door|Mary Finley Leonard
Old Mr. Ford declared he had not laughed so much in twenty years as he did at the antics of the boys and the beetle.
The Story of the Big Front Door|Mary Finley Leonard