cucumber beetle

noun

1. any leaf beetle of the genus Diabrotica and related genera that feeds on cucumbers and other plants of the gourd family and is a vector of cucurbit wilt.

Word History and Origins

Origin of cucumber beetle¹

An Americanism dating back to 1835–45

Example Sentences

Garden pests are often highly specialized and named after their favorite food: cabbageworm, corn earworm, tomato hornworm, Colorado potato beetle, cucumber beetle, pea weevil, pepper maggot, Mexican bean beetle, and so on.

From Salon

For example, the cucumber beetle can transmit bacterial wilt and squash mosaic virus, both serious plant diseases that will destroy a crop.

From Salon

A single colony of big brown bats in the American Midwest, by consuming 600,000 cucumber beetles in a year, prevents 33 million cucumber beetle larvae from feeding on the next year’s crop.

From New York Times

He scouts regularly among his more than 2,000 tomato plants, a magnifying glass at the ready to spot small lesions that could be a sign of disease, or pests like the striped cucumber beetle, a perennial threat to his zucchini crop.

From Washington Times

You could also sow cucumber seeds, and they will mature in late summer and by so doing, outfox the cucumber beetle, the bringer of wilt.

From Washington Post