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sugarcane borer

American  

noun

  1. the larva of the pyralid moth, Diatraea saccharalis, a serious pest of sugarcane, corn, rice, and sorghums.


Etymology

Origin of sugarcane borer

An Americanism dating back to 1890–95

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Once hatched and grown, the insects inject their own eggs into those of the sugarcane borer - a moth that in its caterpillar stage eats valuable plants - preventing the pest from hatching.

From BBC Jan. 22, 2013

The corn borer and the sugarcane borer are also being tested.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

When a wholesale application of heptachlor was made to the farmlands in Louisiana in 1957, the result was the unleashing of one of the worst enemies of the sugarcane crop — the sugarcane borer.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

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