Cold American surrounded by many insects (7)
I believe the answer is:
locusts
'insects' is the definition.
(locust is a kind of insect)
'cold american surrounded by many' is the wordplay.
'cold' becomes 'c' (eg on taps).
'american' becomes 'us' (abbreviation for United States).
'surrounded by' indicates putting letters inside.
'many' becomes 'lots' (lots of something).
'c'+'us'='cus'
'cus' placed within 'lots' is 'LOCUSTS'.
(Other definitions for locusts that I've seen before include "Strippers" , "can be a plague" , "Destructive grasshoppers" , "Grasshoppers of warm regions" .)