Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Rhagoletis pomonella

Rhagoletis pomonella

9.9
A small fly whose young, called apple maggots, grow inside and eat apples
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : Rhagoletis pomonella
  • The Rhagoletis pomonella is notorious for damaging apple crops.

Examples

  • Research on Rhagoletis pomonella has provided insights into the evolution of host specialization in insects.

  • Farmers often monitor Rhagoletis pomonella populations to prevent infestations in their orchards.

  • The larvae of Rhagoletis pomonella cause significant damage to apple crops each year.

  • Farmers often worry about Rhagoletis pomonella infestations in their orchards.

  • The larvae of the Rhagoletis pomonella can damage apple crops by boring into the fruit.

  • Farmers in the region must monitor for Rhagoletis pomonella to protect their apple harvests.

  • During the summer, the Rhagoletis pomonella is often found in orchards, feeding on ripening apples.

Synonyms

apple maggot
vsRhagoletis pomonella
  • Specialized
1 7.2

A small white worm that bores into apples and eats the inside

refers to the entire species including adults rather than only the larval stage

Surface Forms

Rhagoletis pomonella singular
Rhagoletis pomonellas plural

Morphology

Rhagoletis + pomonella

This is a Latin binomial (scientific species) name and functions as an arbitrary technical label; a B1 learner who knows 'Rhagoletis' (a genus label) and not the obscure element 'pomonella' would not be able to derive the meaning 'apple maggot'. Scientific names are not compositional in everyday English and their semantics are language- and domain-specific, so the meaning is not predictable from the parts.

Etymology

Rhagoletis pomonella may come from old words that point to fruit and apples: Rhagoletis was a name for a kind of fruit fly and pomonella comes from a word for apple. This small fly lays eggs in apples and the baby insects eat inside, so the name helps you remember it is the 'apple maggot'.