Glossary

Image (coming soon) Word Definition
Abdomen

The third and often largest part of an insect’s body, which is made up of several similar-looking segments and often bears a pair of jointed, terminal appendages called the cerci.
Adult

Final life stage of an insect, when it is fully formed and capable of reproducing.
Antennae

Pair of long, thin body parts on the heads of insects that are used to feel and smell.
Arthropods

A large group of animals with hard shells on the outsides of their bodies, legs with joints, and no bones inside their bodies. Insects, spiders, centipedes, and crabs belong to this group.
Ash

Type of deciduous tree with compound leaves arranged opposite one another along each branch. This tree, whose wood is used to make baseball bats, is threatened by a bug known as the Green Menace!
Asian Longhorned Beetle

This invasive bug can measure over 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) in length, and has six legs, a black body with white spots, long and banded antennae, and sometimes has blue feet!
Bark

The outside cover of the trunks, branches, and roots of woody plants.
Beetle

An insect with a pair of hard front wings that cover a pair of thin wings.
Beneficial Insect

An organism that is helpful to plants by eating pests that would otherwise cause damage. Ladybugs are an example because the eat aphids which damage leaves.
Birch

A tree known for its papery thin and smooth bark that is threatened by Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB).
Blight

A disease that destroys parts or all of a plant.
Borer

Any of a number of insects that chew, dig, and burrow into plants.
Cambium

Thin layer of cells between the bark and wood of a tree that gives rise to both. Burrowing insects like Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) can damage this tissue which weakens and eventually kills the tree.
Laurel Wilt

Fungal disease that affects redbay and sassafras trees in the coastal plain of the Southeast but also threatens other members of the Laurel family like avocado.