Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various moth caterpillars, especially of the genera Pseudaletia and Spodoptera, that move in large groups and are destructive to crops and other vegetation.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A name given to the larva of Leucania unipuncta (Harris) on account of the immense numbers in which it sometimes marches over a country, completely stripping it of all the grasses and young grain in its way.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • A lepidopterous insect, which in the larval state often travels in great multitudes from field to field, destroying grass, grain, and other crops. The common army worm of the northern United States is the noctuid moth (Pseudaletia unipuncta, formerly Leucania unipuncta. The name is often applied to other related species, as the cotton worm.
  • The larva of a small two-winged fly (Sciara), which marches in large companies, in regular order. See cotton worm, under cotton.
  • the larva of the fungus gnat; -- they march in large companies in regular order.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The larva of various species of noctuid moth, which typically feed in large, destructive groups

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun noctuid moth larvae that travel in multitudes destroying especially grass and grain
  • noun larva of fungus gnat that feed on cereals and other grains; they march in large companies in regular order when the food is exhausted
  • noun moth whose destructive larvae travel in multitudes
  • noun noctuid moth larvae that travel in multitudes destroying especially grass and grain

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

army +‎ worm

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word armyworm.

Examples

  • Farmers were invited to educational meetings at which they were taught to identify the tomato fruitworm, the beet armyworm, and the Western yellowstriped armyworm.

    Diffusion of Innovations Everett M. Rogers 1995

  • Capricious weather combined with armyworm infestations will severely cut cereal crops in southern Africa in 1994/95, the U.N. food agency said on Thursday.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1995

  • Zimbabwean commercial farmers, jolted by an expected 30 percent fall in grain output this year due to late rains, are successfully fighting an armyworm invasion threatening crops, an industry expert said on Monday.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1995

  • The armyworm - a gluttonous green worm that devours vegetation

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1995

  • NAIROBI - Capricious weather combined with armyworm infestations will severely cut cereal crops in southern Africa in

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1995

  • "There also have been reports of armyworm infestations from several countries (further reducing crop harvest margins)," the report said, referring to t by eating the leaves and then the stems.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1995

  • For instance, it inhibits the fall armyworm, one of the most devastating pests of food crops in the western hemisphere.

    5 Effects on Insects 1992

  • Eggs are sometimes laid on the leaves of younger plants, followed by leaf feeding in the whorl as with the armyworm.

    Chapter 10 1981

  • Miscellaneous leaf-feeding caterpillars (yellow striped armyworm, true armyworm, measuring worm, etc.): These may occasionally require foliar insecticide sprays.

    Chapter 10 1981

  • Viptera, which received U.S. regulatory approval last year, is genetically modified to combat damaging insects such as corn earworm and fall armyworm.

    unknown title 2011

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.