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

Each of these moving creatures was a white wax insect—the coccus pe-la of Westwood.

From Project Gutenberg

The genus brachytarsus is parasitic on coccus, and the grub, not the imago, is the enemy of the white wax insect.

From Project Gutenberg

In 1880, Pre Rathouis published at Shanghai a short memoir on the white wax insect.

From Project Gutenberg