caterpillar

/ˌkædərˈpɪlər/

/ˈkætəpɪlə/

Other forms: caterpillars

A caterpillar is a fuzzy, worm-like insect that transforms into a butterfly or a moth. Many caterpillars are striped and colorful.

A caterpillar is officially the larva, or immature form, of a flying insect — generally, a butterfly. Because caterpillars are growing rapidly, they tend to eat constantly, and for this reason they're considered pests by gardeners and farmers. The word caterpillar comes from the Old North French caterpilose, literally "shaggy cat," from the Late Latin catta, "cat," and pilosus, "hairy" or "shaggy."

Definitions of caterpillar

1. noun

   a wormlike and often brightly colored and hairy or spiny larva of a butterfly or moth
   types:

   tussock caterpillar

   larva of a tussock moth

   cankerworm

   green caterpillar of a geometrid moth; pest of various fruit and shade trees

   inchworm, looper, measuring worm

   small hairless caterpillar having legs on only its front and rear segments; mostly larvae of moths of the family Geometridae

   Phthorimaea operculella, potato tuberworm

   larva of potato moth; mines in leaves and stems of e.g. potatoes and tobacco

   cutworm

   North American moth whose larvae feed on young plant stems cutting them off at the ground

   Pseudaletia unipuncta, army worm, armyworm

   noctuid moth larvae that travel in multitudes destroying especially grass and grain

   Spodoptera exigua, beet armyworm

   moth larva that eats foliage of beets and other vegetables

   Spodoptera frugiperda, fall armyworm

   larva of a migratory American noctuid moth; destroys grasses and small grains

   Manduca sexta, tobacco hornworm, tomato worm

   large green white-striped hawkmoth larva that feeds on tobacco and related plants; similar to tomato hornworm

   Manduca quinquemaculata, potato worm, tomato hornworm

   large green white-striped hawkmoth larva that feeds on tomato and potato plants; similar to tobacco hornworm

   silkworm

   the commercially bred hairless white caterpillar of the domestic silkworm moth which spins a cocoon that can be processed to yield silk fiber; the principal source of commercial silk

   giant silkworm, silkworm, wild wilkworm

   larva of a saturniid moth; spins a large amount of strong silk in constructing its cocoon

   tent caterpillar

   the larvae of moths that build and live in communal silken webs in orchard and shade trees

   lappet caterpillar

   larva of a lappet moth

   webworm

   several gregarious moth larvae that spin webs over foliage on which they feed

   Pyrausta nubilalis, corn borer

   larva of the European corn borer moth; a serious pest of maize

   bollworm

   any of various moth caterpillars that destroy cotton bolls

   Pieris rapae, cabbageworm

   toxic green larva of a cabbage butterfly

   woolly bear, woolly bear caterpillar

   caterpillar of numerous moths characterized by a dense coat of woolly hairs; feed on plants and some are destructive pests

   spring cankerworm

   variably colored looper; larva of Paleacrita vernata

   fall cankerworm

   green or brown white-striped looper; larva of Alsophila pometaria

   Chorizagrotis auxiliaris, army cutworm

   larvae (of a noctuid moth) that travel in large groups and destroy grains and alfalfa in the midwestern states

   Samia cynthia, ailanthus silkworm

   large green silkworm of the cynthia moth

   Malacosoma disstria, forest tent caterpillar

   larvae of a gregarious North American moth that spins a web resembling a carpet rather than a tent; serious defoliator of deciduous trees

   Hyphantria cunea, fall webworm

   a variety of webworm

   Loxostege similalis, garden webworm

   a variety of webworm

   Gelechia gossypiella, pink bollworm

   larvae of a gelechiid moth introduced from Asia; feeds on the seeds of cotton bolls

   Heliothis zia, corn earworm, cotton bollworm, earworm, tobacco budworm, tomato fruitworm, vetchworm

   larva of a noctuid moth; highly destructive to especially corn and cotton and tomato crops

   woolly bear moth

   larva of moth of the family Arctiidae

   type of:

   larva

   the immature free-living form of most invertebrates and amphibians and fish which at hatching from the egg is fundamentally unlike its parent and must metamorphose