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rootworm

rootworm

1 7.3
A small insect or its young that eats plant roots and harms crops like corn
  • noun
  • /ˈruːtˌwɜrm/
  • Specialized
: gusano de raíz
  • The damage caused by rootworm larvae can lead to significantly reduced yields in maize fields.
  • corn rootworm
  • western corn rootworm
  • rootworm beetle

And by doing that, that protein that that corn would now make causes rootworm to die when they eat the corn.

Examples

  • Chandler is co-chair of the special corn rootworm areawide management committee, along with Richard L. Dunkle, who is director of the ARS Midwest Area.

    Academic text (1997)
  • Corn rootworms are the first pest to evolve a way to defeat crop rotations.

    Academic text (2003)
  • And by doing that, that protein that that corn would now make causes rootworm to die when they eat the corn.

  • Rootworms would not lay eggs in soybeans, so corn planted after soybeans would not be at risk of rootworm damage.

    Academic text (1997)
  • In the past, to avoid a buildup of rootworms, some farmers planted soybeans instead of corn in alternating years.

    Academic text (1997)
  • In an Iroquois County, Illinois, soybean field, scout Bob Schimmel counts the number of western corn rootworm adults on a yellow sticky trap.

    Academic text (1997)
  • The granules would target rootworms and late-stage beetle larvae and pupae in the soil.

    Academic text (1994)
  • Purdue University entomologist Wayne Buhler and grower Urszula Zumwalt examine a corn ear for silk damage caused by western corn rootworm beetles.

    Academic text (1997)
  • Farmers often use pesticides to control rootworm infestations that harm their corn crops.

  • To prevent rootworm damage, many farmers rotate their crops each season.

Synonyms

grub
vsrootworm
13 6.1

A soft, thick young insect that lives in soil or rotting wood

is a beetle or larva that feeds roots and damages crops, not general larva
May beetle
vsrootworm
  • UK
1 7.2

A large beetle that appears in late spring whose larvae eat plant roots and can damage lawns

is a beetle or larva that feeds roots and damages crops rather than season
wireworm
vsrootworm
  • Specialized
1 9.6

A long thin young insect that eats plant roots and can damage crops

is a general root-feeding beetle or larva that damages crops, not only click larvae
chafer
vsrootworm
1 8.6

A beetle whose young eat plant roots and can damage lawns

is a root-feeding beetle or larva that harms crops rather than garden plants

Surface Forms

rootworm singular
rootworms plural

Morphology

rootworm = root + worm (transparent) = root + worm

The compound literally names an organism associated with roots, so its meaning is directly inferable from 'root' + 'worm'.

Etymology

Rootworm is made of two simple words: root, meaning 'the part of a plant under the ground', and worm, meaning 'a small insect or its young that eats plants'. So a rootworm is an insect that eats plant roots and often damages crops.