hornworm

English

A tobacco hornworm larva.

Etymology

From horn +‎ worm.

Noun

hornworm (plural hornworms)

1. A caterpillar of a hawk moth that has a hornlike tail process.
2. Some moths in the genus Manduca of the hawk moth family Sphingidae.
   • 2007 March 27, John Schwartz, “In the Lab: Robots That Slink and Squirm”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     The project, part of a wave of interest in life-imitating robotics, is a collaboration of seven Tufts faculty members from five departments in the schools of engineering and arts and sciences. Dr. Trimmer comes from the field of neurobiology, where he has been studying the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta, since 1990.

Usage notes

• Many species in the genus Manduca are commonly called sphinxes.

Derived terms

• tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta
• tomato hornworm, Manduca quinquemaculata

Translations

caterpillar

• Finnish: kiitäjän toukka