Insect following meadow (4)
I believe the answer is:
flea
'insect' is the definition.
(I know that flea is a type of insect)
'following meadow' is the wordplay.
'following' becomes 'f.' (used when citing page numbers etc).
'meadow' becomes 'lea' (a lea is a grassy area).
'f'+'lea'='FLEA'
(Other definitions for flea that I've seen before include "Leaping insect" , "Blood-sucking parasites" , "tiny jumper" , "high-jumper" , "Leaping insects" .)