Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Having a very large pronotum extended like a shield over the next two thoracic segments: specifically noting a group of wingless grasshoppers (Locustidæ) known in the United States as western crickets, as of the genera Thyreonotus and Anabrus.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Following an unseasonably warm winter, some in Elko County fear a big crop this year of Mormon crickets, known more precisely as shield-backed katydids, or Anabrus simplex.

    Against Insect Plague, Nevadans Wield Ultimate Weapon: Hard Rock 2009

  • I was shield-backed now by my own sense that this was one of those times when Fortune not only smiled but put out her hand to aid, and that I needed only to keep my wits about me to have matters go as I willed.

    Year of the Unicorn Norton, Andre 1965

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