potato bug

plural potato bugs

1. A Jerusalem cricket, any of various insects of the genus Stenopelmatus.
2. A woodlouse, any of various terrestrial crustaceans of suborder Oniscidea.
3. Any of various insects that feed on or harm potato plants.

   […]it appears that by a recent discovery, it has been found that that well-known insect the Potato Bug, yields an oil, which is a sovereign and certain remedy, for all manner of diseases which poor “human flesh is heir to.”

   1838, “Legislating; or, the rival whiskers”, in The Hesperian, page 42

   1. A striped blister beetle or old-fashioned potato bug (Epicauta vittata).

      We have another potato bug, the “blister beetle,” also called the “old-fashioned potato bug,” which happened to be especially bad this year in the northwest corner of the state.

      1919, Missouri State Board of Agriculture, The New Seed Law, page 58

   2. A Colorado beetle or Colorado potato bug (Leptinotarsa decemlineata).

      They predicted that the “new” potato bug would soon endanger potato growers in the Eastern United States and Canada

      1995, Willis Conner Sorensen, Brethren of the Net, page 122

      1 more example

      Universally known among growers as the potato bug, the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) was long considered the most dangerous enemy of Irish potatoes.

      2018 December 13, Randall Griffin, Joey Williamson, “Sweet potato and Irish potato insects”, in Clemson Cooperative Extension Home & Garden Information Center