'Hessian fly' definitions:
Definition of 'Hessian fly'
(from WordNet)
noun
Small fly whose larvae damage wheat and other grains [syn: Hessian fly, Mayetiola destructor]
Definition of 'Hessian fly'
From: GCIDE
- Cecidomyia \Cec`i*do*my"i*a\ (s[e^]s`[i^]*d[-o]*m[imac]"[i^]*[.a]), prop. n. [Nl., fr. Gr. khki`s, khki^dos, a gall nut + myi^a a fly.] (Zool.) A genus of small dipterous files, including several very injurious species, as the Hessian fly. See Hessian fly. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Hessian fly'
From: GCIDE
- Hessian \Hes"sian\, a. Of or relating to Hesse, in Germany, or to the Hessians. [1913 Webster]
- Hessian boots, or Hessians, boot of a kind worn in England, in the early part of the nineteenth century, tasseled in front. --Thackeray.
- Hessian cloth, or Hessians, a coarse hempen cloth for sacking.
- Hessian crucible. See under Crucible.
- Hessian fly (Zool.), a small dipterous fly or midge (Cecidomyia destructor). Its larv[ae] live between the base of the lower leaves and the stalk of wheat, and are very destructive to young wheat; -- so called from the erroneous idea that it was brought into America by the Hessian troops, during the Revolution. [1913 Webster]