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Science & Tech > Other Life > Beetles


Now updated for CSW19. New words, if any, and new inflections of existing words, are shown in red.


anobiid any type of beetle.
beetle any insect of the order Coleoptera, having biting mouthparts and forewings modified to form shell-like protective elytra.
billbug a weevil or CURCULIO of various species, as the corn weevil.
bookworm a larva that eats holes in books, esp. of the Anobium beetle.
borer a kind of boring beetle.
bruchid a beetle of the family Bruchidae, whose larvae live on peas, beans etc.
buprestid a kind of wood-boring beetle.
cadelle a small black beetle. [Fr., from L. catellus, little dog].
canegrub any of various species of beetle native to Australia.
cantharid cantharis a beetle with an elongated cylindrical body of a brilliant green color, aka Spanish fly > CANTHARIDS, CANTHARIDES.
carabid a black carnivorous beetle.
chafer any of several kinds of beetle, esp. of the Scarabeidae.
chrysomelid a member of the leaf-beetle family.
clavicorn a beetle having club-shaped antennae.
clerid a predatory beetle.
cockchafer any of several kinds of beetle, esp. of the Scarabeidae.
coleopteral of or like any member of the insect order Coleoptera.
coleopteran coleopteron a large order of insects having the front wings modified as hard wing-cases, and comprising the beetles and weevils. The pl. of COLEOPTERON is COLEOPTERA.
coleopterous pertaining to beetles and weevils; having hard anterior wings
coprophagan a beetle that lives in dung.
curculio a weevil. [L. curculio, corn-weevil].
deathwatch a small beetle (Anobium tessellatum and other allied species). By forcibly striking its head against woodwork it makes a ticking sound, which is a call of the sexes to each other — hm, could be worth a try I suppose - but has been imagined by superstitious people to presage death.
dermestid any of a family of beetles with clubbed antennae, destructive to organic material.
dor a dung-beetle (also DORR); (verb) an obsolete word meaning to mock > DORS, DORRING, DORRED.
dorbug dorbeetle a cockchafer.
dorr a kind of dung-beetle. Also DOR.
drumbledor dumbledore a large flying beetle, aka the brown COCKCHAFER.
dytiscid relating to the genus Dytiscus, diving-beetles.
elater elaterid a kind of click beetle, aka skipjack beetle.
figeater a large beetle which in the Southern United States destroys figs.
firefly glowfly glowworm any nocturnal beetle of the family Lampyridae, common in warm and tropical regions, having luminescent abdominal organs.
goldbug a golden-coloured beetle.
hornbug a large nocturnal beetle with long, curved upper jaws, resembling a sickle.
huhu (Maori) a New Zeland beetle.
humbuzz a COCKCHAFER.
ladybird ladybug ladycow ladyfly any of various small brightly coloured beetles of the family Coccinellidae.
lamellicorn a scarab or other beetle with leaf-tipped antennae.
lampyrid a GLOWWORM or FIREFLY.
longicorn a kind of beetle with very long antennae.
mealworm the larva of various beetles of the genus Tenebrio feeding on meal, flour, and similar stored foods.
meloid a blister beetle.
minotaur As in minotaur beetle, a kind of dung-beetle. No —S.
phylloxera a kind of beetle, a pest of vineyards. Pl. PHYLLOXERAS.
pinchbug a kind of large beetle.
potatobug the Colorado beetle.
sawyer any of several large longicorn beetles that bore holes in timber.
scarab scarabaean scarabaeus scarabee scarabaeid scarabaeoid scaraboid orig., a beetle of any kind. Now, a lamellicorn beetle of the family Scarabaeidae, esp. (in full sacred scarab) Scarabaeus sacer, which was revered by the ancient Egyptians. The pl. of SCARABEUS is SCARABEUSES or SCARABEI.
scolytid scolytoid any one of numerous species of small bark-boring beetles of the genus Scolytus and allied genera. [Gk. skolyptein to strip].
serricorn a type of beetle with serrate antennae > SERRICORNS.
staphylinid a kind of beetle aka rove beetle. [Gk. staphylos, bunch of grapes].
tenebrionid a nocturnal beetle that is usually dark-colored.
toktokkie a large S. African beetle.
tumblebug a dung beetle, that rolls up balls of dung for protection and nourishment of young.
vedalia an Australian ladybird, which has been imported into California and elsewhere to control scale insects.
weevil a popular name for various beetles, esp. one that lives in flour.
weeviled weevilled infested by weevils.
weevily weevilly full of weevils.
wireworm the slender hard-skinned larva of a click-beetle, destructive to the roots of plants; any of various similar larvae, esp. the leather-jacket grub of a crane-fly.
woodworm woodborer any of various insect larvae that bore into wooden furniture, beams, etc., esp. the larvae of the furniture beetle and the deathwatch beetle.
xylophagan one of a tribe of beetles whose larvae bore or live in wood.
zyzzyva a tropical weevil.