Destructive pest taking rear off place (5)
I believe the answer is:
locus
'place' is the definition.
('place' in Latin)
I don't understand the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for locus that I've seen before include "insect" , "Area of" , "Spot" , "Place of occurrence" , "Place or set of possible places" .)