leaf beetle

noun

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.

Origin of leaf beetle

First recorded in 1850–55

Words Nearby leaf beetle

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use leaf beetle in a sentence

The caterpillars hatch from their eggs, and the elm leaf beetle leaves its winter quarters at that time.
Studies of Trees | Jacob Joshua Levison
Cedar-birds eat caterpillars and grubs, and are very fond of the elm-leaf beetle.
The Children's Book of Birds | Olive Thorne Miller
The last three feed also on the southern corn leaf-beetle and the last two upon the grapevine colaspis.
Our Vanishing Wild Life | William T. Hornaday
Odontota dorsalis is a small leaf-beetle found on Robinia pseudacacia.
Studies in Spermatogenesis | Nettie Maria Stevens

British Dictionary definitions for leaf beetle

leaf beetle

noun

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

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

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