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flea beetle

flea beetle

1 7.0
A small leaf beetle with strong back legs that jumps like a flea and chews small holes in leaves
  • noun
  • /fliː ˈbiːtəl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : escarabajo pulgón
  • To reduce infestations, rotate your crops every year to disrupt flea beetle life cycles.
  • flea beetle feeding on leafy

Examples

  • "We now need to find ways to get these flea beetles, in combination with other insects, distributed and established over a much larger area so we can control leafy spurge."

    Academic text (1994)
  • The stars so far have been a group of four related flea beetles from Eurasia that belong to the genus Aphthona.

    Academic text (2000)
  • I do have a little bit of this is just a flea beetle and flea beetles look like that, that thing that just jumped.

  • The adults of these flea beetles eat leaves and flowers, and the larvae feed on the root hairs and young roots.

    Academic text (1994)
  • Unlike flea beetles, the midge prefers moist, shady areas.

    Academic text (2000)
  • Aphthona flava flea beetle feeding on leafy spurge.

    Academic text (2000)
  • Last summer, TEAM Leafy Spurge distributed for release more than 22 million flea beetles to 206 ranchers and land managers from 50 counties in 7 states.

    Academic text (2000)
  • Now the black dot spurge flea beetle, a close relative provided by Agriculture Canada in 1989, is being pilot-tested at six sites in five states: Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, and North Dakota.

    Academic text (1994)
  • The garden was infested with flea beetles that made the leaves look like Swiss cheese.

  • Farmers often use row covers to protect young plants from flea beetle infestations.

Synonyms

leaf beetle
vsflea beetle
6.7

A small brightly colored beetle that eats plant leaves and whose young damage roots and stems

is small and has enlarged hind legs used for strong jumping

Surface Forms

flea beetle singular
flea beetles plural

Morphology

flea + beetle

The compound 'flea beetle' is compositionally transparent: it denotes a beetle with a flea-like quality (notably the ability to jump). A B1 learner who knows 'flea' and 'beetle' can readily infer that it refers to a small beetle that jumps like a flea, following common noun-compound patterns.

Etymology

The name flea beetle comes from the insect's tiny size and strong back legs that let the beetle jump like a flea, so people put the two words together. That's why 'flea beetle' means a small leaf beetle that jumps and often damages plants.