potato bugs

Noun

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 Canada1995, Willis Conner Sorensen, Brethren of the Net, page 122