Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of several chrysomelid beetles of the genus Diabrotica, the larvae of which feed on the roots of corn and other crop plants.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
worm thattunnels through theroots of youngplants .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Because rootworm is American corn's most voracious enemy, this new variety has the potential to reduce annual pesticide use in America by more than 14 million pounds.
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Because rootworm is American corn's most voracious enemy, this new variety has the potential to reduce annual pesticide use in America by more than 14 million pounds.
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The least well-known of the species in the state of Kentucky is the northern corn rootworm which is lacking in any black marks on the wing covers.
EzineArticles 2010
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Competitors, which use other Bt genes to attack the rootworm, estimate that roughly one-third of the corn grown in the U.S. carries Monsanto's Cry3Bb1 gene.
Monsanto Corn Plant Losing Bug Resistance Scott Kilman 2011
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Dr. Gassmann collected rootworm beetles from four Iowa cornfields with plant damage in 2009.
Monsanto Corn Plant Losing Bug Resistance Scott Kilman 2011
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As reported by The Wall Street Journal in August, university scientists in Iowa and Illinois were discovering fields planted with Monsanto's corn suffering from unexpectedly high levels of damage from rootworm, which could encourage farmers to switch to insect-proof seeds sold by competitors of the St. Louis crop biotechnology giant.
EPA Warns Monsanto About Bugs Scott Kilman 2011
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The seed contains a gene from a soil microorganism that makes a protein called Cry3Bb1, which kills bugs like the rootworm, but doesn't harm mammals, birds and many beneficial insects.
EPA Warns Monsanto About Bugs Scott Kilman 2011
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Mike Gray , a University of Illinois entomologist, said he is studying rootworm beetles he collected in northwest Illinois earlier this month from fields where Monsanto's Bt-expressing corn had suffered extensive rootworm damage.
Monsanto Corn Plant Losing Bug Resistance Scott Kilman 2011
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Until insecticide-producing corn plants arrived, Midwest farmers typically tried to keep pests like the corn borer and the rootworm in check by changing what they grew in a field each year, often rotating between corn and soybeans.
Monsanto Corn Plant Losing Bug Resistance Scott Kilman 2011
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It rips apart the gut of the rootworm but is harmless to mammals, birds and most beneficial insects.
Monsanto Corn Plant Losing Bug Resistance Scott Kilman 2011
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