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cadelle (kuh-DEL) - n., a small black beetle (Tenebroides mauritanicus) that feeds on stored grain and other insects.
Both larvae and adults are pests worldwide, having been imported everywhere with grains. As larvae, the white maggots that infested ships biscuits (cf. Patrick O'Brian) were called bargemen. "Small" is relative, btw -- they grow to about a centimeter long. The name was borrowed around 1860 from French, which borrowed it from Provençal cadello, from Latin catella, feminine of catellus, puppy, diminutive of catulus, young animal.
Puppy!
---L.
Both larvae and adults are pests worldwide, having been imported everywhere with grains. As larvae, the white maggots that infested ships biscuits (cf. Patrick O'Brian) were called bargemen. "Small" is relative, btw -- they grow to about a centimeter long. The name was borrowed around 1860 from French, which borrowed it from Provençal cadello, from Latin catella, feminine of catellus, puppy, diminutive of catulus, young animal.
Puppy!
---L.
