microcoleopteran.
/ˌmʌɪkrə(ʊ)ˌkɒlɪˈɒpt(ə)rə/, U.S. /ˈˌmaɪkroʊˌkɑliˈɑpt(ə)rə/ Entomology. rare.
With plural agreement. The smaller kinds of beetle collectively.
ΚΠ
1872 J. G. Wood Insects at Home xiv. 220 The little insect which has been chosen as our example of these ‘micro-coleoptera’, as the tiny Beetles are called, is tolerably common.
1898 Amer. Naturalist 32 68 Rev. Andrew Matthews, English student of the microcoleoptera.
1966 Coleopterists' Bull. 20 34 These mosses..are the most important habitat for microcoleoptera.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1872