wax insect

noun

1. any of several scale insects that secrete a commercially valuable waxy substance, especially a Chinese scale insect, Ericerus pe-la.

wax insect

noun

1. any of various scale insects that secrete wax or a waxy substance, esp the oriental species Ceroplastes ceriferus, which produces Chinese wax

Word History and Origins

Origin of wax insect¹

First recorded in 1805–15

Example Sentences

See Bo-tree.Fish, species of, at St. Paul Island, i. 316Fitzroy Dry Dock, Cockatoo Island, Sydney, iii. 49Flata limbata, or wax insect of China.

From Project Gutenberg