leaf beetle

American  

noun

1. any of numerous, often brightly colored beetles of the family Chrysomelidae, that feed on the leaves of plants, the larvae of which infest the roots, stem, and leaves.

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leaf beetle British  

noun

1. any of a large family of beetles ( Chrysomelidae ) that includes more than 25,000 species, mostly leaf feeders and mostly brightly coloured, with a metallic sheen. It includes the notorious Colorado beetle , the bloody-nosed beetle and the flea beetles ( Phyllotreta species) which attack young cabbage plants

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Etymology

Origin of leaf beetle

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

leaf beetle

The Species in Peril report warns others could face a similar fate, including the high brown fritillary butterfly and rainbow-coloured Snowdon leaf beetle, Arctic-Alpine pea mussel, woolly feather-moss and eyed chestnut wrinkle-lichen.

From BBC ● Nov. 24, 2025

Whether it's the Mexican bean beetle, the Japanese beetle, or the bean leaf beetle, your plant's biggest nemesis will likely be . . . the beetle.

From Salon ● May 30, 2022

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

So could the beautiful frog-legged leaf beetle be doing the same?

From Scientific American ● Sep. 20, 2013

The three classes of insects are: 1. Those that chew and swallow some portion of the leaf; as, for example, the elm leaf beetle, and the tussock, gipsy, and brown-tail moths.

From Studies of Trees by Levison, Jacob Joshua