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caterpillar

Parts of a Caterpillar Monarch - Danaus plexippus Black Swallowtail Caterpillar - Papilio polyxenes Flannel Moth - Megalopyge opercularis Euclea delphinii - Euclea Spotted Tussock Moth caterpillar. - Lophocampa maculata Milkweed Tussock Moth Caterpillar - Euchaetes egle Monkey Slug (Hag Moth Larva) - Phobetron pithecium Curve-lined Owlet Caterpillar - Phyprosopus callitrichoides
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
No Taxon (Glossary)
No Taxon (C)
No Taxon caterpillar
Explanation of Names
Caterpillar has a fascinating etymology. According to Jardine, the English word is apparently a combination (by folk etymology) of cates, food (archaic English meaning choice food, or delicacies, from French acater to buy), and French piller, to rob. The original Old French word was chattepeleuse, a hairy cat. The French word is from Latin cattus cat, plus pilosus hairy (1). (Partridge, in Origins--A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, gives the Old French as cate plue, variant catepelose.)
Identification
caterpillar noun, plural caterpillars - the larval stage of butterflies and moths (order Lepidoptera).
Print References
Gordh, A Dictionary of Entomology, p. 170 (1)
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913), available here--meaning of cates
Works Cited
1.A Dictionary of Entomology
George Gordh, David H. Headrick. 2003. CABI Publishing.