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Glite Dictionary
wireworm

wireworm

1 9.6
A long thin young insect that eats plant roots and can damage crops
  • noun
  • /ˈwaɪərˌwɜrm/
  • Specialized
: larva de alambre
  • Farmers are worried about the wireworms in their crops.

Examples

  • The farmer discovered that wireworms were damaging the potato crop by eating their roots.

  • Gardeners often check the soil for wireworms before planting sensitive vegetables like carrots.

  • Effective control measures are needed to prevent wireworm infestations in newly planted fields.

  • The wireworm infested the cornfield last summer.

  • The wireworm is a common pest that damages the roots of many crops.

  • Farmers often struggle with the wireworms that attack their fields in the spring.

  • Identifying the wireworm early can help prevent serious damage to your plants.

Surface Forms

wireworm singular
wireworms plural

Morphology

wireworm = wire + worm (semi-transparent) = wire + worm

The components 'wire' + 'worm' are literal and suggest a slender, wire-like worm, but the specific taxonomic meaning 'larva of click beetles' is a specialized extension not fully predictable from the parts.

Etymology

Wireworm comes from how the insect looks: people joined wire 'thin metal thread' and worm 'small long animal' because the larva is long, thin and quite hard like a wire. So wireworm means the tough, root-eating larva that can damage crops.