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Science & Tech > Other Life > Other Insects


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


adelgid a small insect related to the aphids.
alderfly a riverside neuropterous insect.
antlion an insect that digs a pit to catch ants.
aphid a plant-louse (e.g. greenfly or blackfly), a small homopterous insect that sucks plant juices > APHIDS or APHIDES.
aphidian of the family Aphidae, aphids.
aphidious like an APHID.
aphis a plant-louse; member of genus Aphis which includes greenfly, etc > APHIDES.
armyworm the larva of a small fly or moth that moves in large armies destroying crops.
bedbug an insect that infests beds.
beflea to infest with fleas > BEFLEAS, BEFLEAING, BEFLEAED.
blackfly a THRIPS or APHIS that infests broad beans.
booklouse an insect that eats books > BOOKLICE.
caddisfly any small mothlike insect of the order Trichoptera that lives near, and lays its eggs in, water.
caddisworm the larva of the caddis-fly.
casebearer an insect larva that forms a protective coat of silk.
caseworm a CADDIS worm.
cercopid a spittle-bug.
chegoe chigger chigoe chigre a small tropical flea; the fertile female burrows under the skin of the host including humans.
chinch a N. American bug, very destructive to cereals and other grasses; also, a bedbug.
cicada cicala an insect like a grasshopper > CICADAE or CICADAS, CICALE or CICALAS.
cicadellid a genus of insects including leafhoppers.
cimex a bed-bug > CIMICES.
clipshear an earwig.
coccid a kind of insect, the scale insects and mealy bugs.
cochineal an insect that feeds on cacti and is the source of a scarlet dyestuff.
cockroach an orthopterous insect, the so-called black beetle.
collembolan a SPRINGTAIL, any one of numerous species of small apterous insects belonging to the order Thysanura.
conenose a bloodsucking insect.
corixid a type of water bug.
cricket a jumping insect of the family Gryllidae, related to the grasshopper and locust; (verb) to play cricket > CRICKETS, CRICKETING, CRICKETED.
crotonbug a species of COCKROACH.
damselfly an insect of the order Odonata, resembling the dragonfly.
dictyopteran any insect of an order including COCKROACHES and MANTISES.
dragonfly a predaceous long-bodied often brilliantly-coloured insect of the Odonata.
earwig any dermapterous insect of the family Forficulidae, once supposed to creep into the ear; (verb) to pester with demands; to eavesdrop > EARWIGS, EARWIGGING, EARWIGGED.
earwiggy full of earwigs.
ephemera an insect of the mayfly genus Ephemera, whose adult life is very short > EPHEMERAS or EPHEMERAE.
ephemerid an insect of the mayfly family > EPHEMERIDES or EPHEMERIDS.
ephemeron an insect that lives for only one day; anything short-lived > EPHEMERA or EPHEMERONS.
firebrat a small insect found in bakehouses.
flea any of an order of wingless, very agile, parasitic, bloodsucking insects.
fleahopper any of various small jumping bugs that feed on certain plants.
fleasome full of fleas.
froghopper another name for SPITTLEBUG.
gogga an insect, a creepy-crawly.
grapelouse an insect of the genus Phylloxera, that attacks vines > GRAPELICE.
grasshopper a name for various herbivorous jumping insects of the order Orthoptera, related to locusts and crickets, that chirp by rubbing their wing-covers.
greenbug a green aphid.
greenfly a kind of aphid.
grig a cricket, a grasshopper; a sand-eel; (verb) to fish for grigs (in sense of sand-eels) > GRIGS, GRIGGING, GRIGGED.
hemipter hemipteran hemipteron a member of the Hemiptera, an order of insects, variously defined, with wings (when present) often half leathery, half membranous, ie the bugs, cicadas, greenfly, cochineal insect, etc.
hemipteral hemipterous relating to the Hemiptera, an order of insects including bugs and cicadas.
heteropterous relating to true bugs.
hexapod an animal with six feet, an insect.
insect a word loosely used for a small invertebrate creature, esp one with a body divided into sections; in zoological terms, a member of the Insecta.
insectan insectean pertaining to insects.
isopteran Any member of an order of insects, the termites, having the two pairs of wings (when present) closely alike.
isopterous relating to the Isoptera, an order of insects having the two pairs of wings closely alike.
jassid an insect of the leafhopper family.
jointworm the larva of a small, hymenopterous fly, which is found in gall-like swellings on the stalks of wheat.
kade ked a wingless fly that infests sheep.
katydid a kind of grasshopper.
kekerengu a New Zealand bug.
lacewing any one of several species of neuropterous insects of the genus Chrysopa and allied genera.
leafhopper a name for various hopping orthopterous insects that suck plant juices.
locust any of numerous orthopterous insects of the genus Locusta; (verb) to lay waste like a locust > LOCUSTS, LOCUSTING, LOCUSTED.
louse a wingless parasitic insect (genus Pediculus), with a flat body and short legs > LICE. (Verb) to mess up > LOUSES, LOUSING, LOUSED.
mantid a member of the Mantis family of insects.
mantis any of various predatory insects of the family Mantidae > MANTISES or MANTES.
mayfly a short-lived insect (genus Ephemera) that appears in May.
mealybug a hothouse pest, a coccus insect with a white powdery appearance.
mirid a variety of leaf-bug.
mudeye the larva of the dragonfly, commonly used as a fishing bait.
murragh an angler's name for a large CADDISFLY esteemed by trout.
neuropteran an order of insect including lacewing flies.
neuropteron any of an order of insect including lacewing flies > NEUROPTERA.
neuropterous pertaining or belonging to insect order including lace-wing flies.
nit a young louse; a fool.
noninsect a creature that is not an insect.
nymph in aquatic insects, the larval stage.
odonata insects of the order Odonata, dragonflies and damselflies.
odonate any member of the order Odonata, dragonflies and damselflies.
orthopteran orthopteron any member of the Orthoptera order of insects > ORTHOPTERANS, ORTHOPTERA.
orthopterous pertaining or belonging to insect order including grasshoppers, crickets, etc
pedicular of or pertaining to lice.
pediculous lousy.
pediculus a genus of wingless parasitic Hemiptera, including the common lice of man > PEDICULI.
phasmid any orthopterous insect of the family Phasmidae, as a leaf insect or a stick insect.
proturan any of a variety of white wingless insects.
psocid any member of the family Psocidae, tiny winged or wingless insects that include booklice, barklice etc.
psylla any insect of the genus Psylla, leaping plant lice > PSYLLAS. [L. from Gk. psulla, flea].
psyllid a PSYLLA, a plant louse.
pulicene pertaining to, or abounding in, fleas.
rearhorse a praying mantis (from its stance).
redbug a CHIGGER, a blood-sucking larval mite.
reduviid the Reduviidae family of predaceous bugs.
roseslug a larval sawfly that eats rose-leaves.
sawfly a hymenopterous insect of various kinds.
shadfly the mayfly.
sialid sialidan an alderfly.
silverhorn any of various usually darkish caddis flies of the family Leptoceridae, characterized by very long pale antennae.
snowflea a white wingless insect appearing on snow in springtime.
spittlebug any of a family (Cercopidae) of leaping homopterous insects whose larvae emit froth.
springtail any one of numerous species of small apterous insects belonging to the order Thysanura.
stinkbug a shield bug that releases foul-smelling secretions.
stylopid an insect that is parasitic on other insects.
termite a so-called white ant, a pale-coloured insect of the order Isoptera, only superficially like an ant, some species feeding on wood and damaging trees, buildings, etc.
termitic of termites.
tettix the cicada > TETTIXES.
thrips any insect of the order Thysanoptera, esp a minute black insect of the genus Thrips, common in flowers > THRIPSES. [Gk. thrips, a woodworm].
thysanuran a member of the bristle-tails, an order of small wingless insects with abdominal appendages.
thysanurous relating to a THYSANURAN, a bristle-tail.
voetganger a locust before its wings grow. [Du voet, foot + gang, walk].
weta a large New Zealand grasshopper.
woodwasp a large wasplike insect.