diamondback moth
noun
: a nearly cosmopolitan moth (Plutella xylostella of the family Plutellidae) whose larva is a pest on cruciferous plants
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web RNAissance Ag is working on a spray that targets the diamondback moth, which has an insatiable appetite for cabbages and has already evolved some resistance to common pesticides. 
(old) Matt Reynolds, Wired, 8 Nov. 2021 Anthony Shelton, a professor of entomology at Cornell University, worked with Oxitec on the experimental release of the diamondback moth in 2017. Eric Niiler, Wired, 24 Sep. 2020 Scientists at Cornell University ran a study comparing Oxitec's diamondback moths with the real thing and to study their affect on a small moth population. Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 29 Jan. 2020 The diamondback moth has also been resistant to pesticides, the more traditional approach to pest control. Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 29 Jan. 2020 Pests monitored: Pheromone lures are available for diamondback moths and moths that produce armyworms, cabbage loopers, corn earworms, European corn borers, tomato pinworms, and cutworms. The Editors Of Organic Life, Good Housekeeping, 18 Dec. 2017 The diamondback moths are not irradiated, though, because the irradiation strategy didn’t work. Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, 8 Sep. 2017 Researchers from Cornell University are studying whether the engineered insects could be used to reduce the population of the diamondback moth—a European species that has become an agricultural pest in the United states. Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 11 July 2017 Like Oxitec’s mosquitoes, its diamondback moths are genetically engineered to be self-limiting. Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, 8 Sep. 2017 See More
(old) Matt Reynolds, Wired, 8 Nov. 2021 Anthony Shelton, a professor of entomology at Cornell University, worked with Oxitec on the experimental release of the diamondback moth in 2017. Eric Niiler, Wired, 24 Sep. 2020 Scientists at Cornell University ran a study comparing Oxitec's diamondback moths with the real thing and to study their affect on a small moth population. Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 29 Jan. 2020 The diamondback moth has also been resistant to pesticides, the more traditional approach to pest control. Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 29 Jan. 2020 Pests monitored: Pheromone lures are available for diamondback moths and moths that produce armyworms, cabbage loopers, corn earworms, European corn borers, tomato pinworms, and cutworms. The Editors Of Organic Life, Good Housekeeping, 18 Dec. 2017 The diamondback moths are not irradiated, though, because the irradiation strategy didn’t work. Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, 8 Sep. 2017 Researchers from Cornell University are studying whether the engineered insects could be used to reduce the population of the diamondback moth—a European species that has become an agricultural pest in the United states. Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 11 July 2017 Like Oxitec’s mosquitoes, its diamondback moths are genetically engineered to be self-limiting. Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, 8 Sep. 2017 See More Word History
First Known Use
1891, in the meaning defined above