stem borer

English

Alternative forms

• stemborer

Etymology

From stem +‎ borer.

Noun

stem borer (plural stem borers)

1. Any insect larva, or arthropod, that bores into plant stems.
   • 1972, James M. Minifie, Homesteader, A Prairie Boyhood Recalled, page 121:

     The Manitoba maple was subject to a stem-borer which destroyed its growing tips, and in any case it had a diffuse, shrubby growth which never concentrated naturally into a single trunk.