bark beetle

bark beetle

n.

Any of various small cylindrical beetles of the family Scolytidae that burrrow along the surface wood directly beneath the bark of trees, causing extensive damage.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

bark beetle - small beetle that bores tunnels in the bark and wood of trees; related to weevils beetle - insect having biting mouthparts and front wings modified to form horny covers overlying the membranous rear wings family Ipidae, family Scolytidae, Ipidae, Scolytidae - large family of bark-boring or wood-boring short-beaked beetles; very destructive to forest and fruit trees Dutch-elm beetle, Scolytus multistriatus - a vector of the fungus causing Dutch elm disease Dendroctonus rufipennis, spruce bark beetle - small beetle that likes to bore through the bark of spruce trees and eat the cambium which eventually kills the tree; "the spruce bark beetle is the major tree-killing insect pest of Alaska spruce forests"