palmerworm

palmerworm

English

Etymology

palmer +‎ worm, because wandering about like a palmer.

Noun

palmerworm (plural palmerworms)

1. A gelechiid moth, Dichomeris ligulella, destructive to certain trees.
   • 1611, King James Version, Joel 2:25:

     And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.

Translations

a grub or larva of a particular species

Maori: whangawhanga

References

On etymology, see Ernest Adams, ""On the Names of Caterpillers, Snails, and Slugs," Transactions of the Philological Society, 89–112, 95 (1860).