melon beetle

1 definition found

melon beetle - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Melon \Mel"on\ (m[e^]l"[u^]n), n. [F., fr. L. melo, for melopepo
     an apple-shaped melon, Gr. mhlope`pwn; mh^lon apple + pe`pwn
     a species of large melon; cf. L. malum apple. Cf.
     Marmalade.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. (Bot.) The juicy fruit of certain cucurbitaceous plants,
        as the muskmelon, watermelon, and citron melon; also, the
        plant that produces the fruit.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Zool.) A large, ornamental, marine, univalve shell of the
        genus Melo.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Melon beetle (Zool.), a small leaf beetle (Diabrotiea  vittata
        ), which damages the leaves of melon vines.
  
     Melon cactus, Melon thistle.
        (a) (Bot.) A genus of cactaceous plants (Melocactus)
            having a fleshy and usually globose stem with the
            surface divided into spiny longitudinal ridges, and
            bearing at the top a prickly and woolly crown in which
            the small pink flowers are half concealed. Melocactus  communis
            , from the West Indies, is often cultivated,
            and sometimes called Turk's cap.
        (b) The related genus Mamillaria, in which the stem is
            tubercled rather than ribbed, and the flowers
            sometimes large. See Illust. under Cactus.
            [1913 Webster]