mealybug

meal·y·bug

M0179400 (mē′lē-bŭg′)n. Any of various soft-bodied scale insects covered with a white powdery substance, especially of the family Pseudococcidae, some of which are destructive to ornamental and agricultural plants.

meal•y•bug

(ˈmi liˌbʌg)

n. any of several scalelike homopterous insects of the families Pseudococcidae and Eriococcidae that are covered with a powdery wax secretion and feed on plants. [1815–25]

Thesaurus

Noun

mealybug - scalelike plant-eating insect coated with a powdery waxy secretion; destructive especially of fruit treesmealy bugcoccid insect - scale insects and mealybugsfamily Pseudococcidae, Pseudococcidae - scalelike insects: mealybugscitrophilous mealybug, citrophilus mealybug, Pseudococcus fragilis - destructive especially to citrusComstock mealybug, Comstock's mealybug, Pseudococcus comstocki - Asiatic insect introduced accidentally into United States; pest on citrus and apple treescitrus mealybug, Planococcus citri - feeds on a wide variety of cultivated plants but especially destructive to citrus

mealybug

mealybug,

common name for certain unarmored scale insectsscale insect,
common name for members of a highly modified group of insects belonging to several families of the superfamily Coccoidea. Scales possess antennae and are characterized by reduced legs. Only the males have wings; females are always wingless.
..... Click the link for more information. that exude a granular white secretion, giving them a mealy appearance. Many are common greenhouse and crop pests. Adult females are wingless, with oval, segmented bodies and well-developed legs. The females and young feed on various parts of plants with their sucking mouthparts. Adult males have no mouthparts and do not feed. In egg-laying species the female produces several hundred eggs in a mass covered with waxy threads. In other species the young are born alive. The most serious pests are mealybugs that feed on citrus; other species damage sugarcane, grapes, pineapple, coffee trees, ferns, and orchids. Mealybugs are classified in the phylum ArthropodaArthropoda
[Gr.,=jointed feet], largest and most diverse animal phylum. The arthropods include crustaceans, insects, centipedes, millipedes, spiders, scorpions, and the extinct trilobites.
..... Click the link for more information. , class Insecta, order Homoptera, family Pseudococcidae.

mealybug

[′mē·lē‚bəg] (invertebrate zoology) Any of various scale insects of the family Pseudococcidae which have a powdery substance covering the dorsal surface; all are serious plant pests.

mealybug

noun

Synonyms for mealybug

noun scalelike plant-eating insect coated with a powdery waxy secretion

Synonyms

mealy bug

Related Words

coccid insect
family Pseudococcidae
Pseudococcidae
citrophilous mealybug
citrophilus mealybug
Pseudococcus fragilis
Comstock mealybug
Comstock's mealybug
Pseudococcus comstocki
citrus mealybug
Planococcus citri