Tent caterpillar

Tent caterpillar
Tent Tent, n. [OE. tente, F. tente, LL. tenta, fr. L. tendere, tentum, to stretch. See {Tend} to move, and cf. {Tent} a roll of lint.] 1. A pavilion or portable lodge consisting of skins, canvas, or some strong cloth, stretched and sustained by poles, -- used for sheltering persons from the weather, especially soldiers in camp. [1913 Webster]

Within his tent, large as is a barn. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]

2. (Her.) The representation of a tent used as a bearing. [1913 Webster]

{Tent bed}, a high-post bedstead curtained with a tentlike canopy.

{Tent caterpillar} (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of gregarious caterpillars which construct on trees large silken webs into which they retreat when at rest. Some of the species are very destructive to fruit trees. The most common American species is the larva of a bombycid moth ({Clisiocampa Americana}). Called also {lackery caterpillar}, and {webworm}. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • tent caterpillar — ☆ tent caterpillar n. any of various caterpillars (esp. genus Malacosoma, family Lasiocampidae) that usually live in colonies in large, tentlike webs spun among the branches of trees, which they defoliate …   English World dictionary

  • Tent caterpillar — Taxobox name = Tent caterpillars image width = 240px image caption = Lackey moth, Malacosoma neustrium regnum = Animalia phylum = Arthropoda classis = Insecta ordo = Lepidoptera unranked familia = Macrolepidoptera superfamilia = Lasiocampoidea… …   Wikipedia

  • tent caterpillar — 1. any of the larvae of several moths of the genus Malacosoma, which feed on the leaves of orchard and shade trees and live colonially in a tentlike silken web. 2. the North American larva of M. disstria (forest tent caterpillar), which spins a… …   Universalium

  • tent caterpillar — noun the larvae of moths that build and live in communal silken webs in orchard and shade trees • Hypernyms: ↑caterpillar • Hyponyms: ↑forest tent caterpillar, ↑Malacosoma disstria • Member Holonyms: ↑Malacosoma, ↑genus Malacos …   Useful english dictionary

  • tent caterpillar — tent′ cat erpillar n. ent any of the larvae of several moths of the genus Malacosoma, which feed on the leaves of deciduous trees and live colonially in a tentlike silken web • Etymology: 1850–55, amer …   From formal English to slang

  • tent caterpillar moth —  any of a group of moths in the family Lasiocampidae (order Lepidoptera) in which the larvae (caterpillars) spin huge, tent shaped communal webs in trees, are often brightly coloured, and can defoliate forest, fruit, and ornamental trees. The… …   Universalium

  • tent caterpillar — /ˈtɛnt ˌkætəpɪlə/ (say tent .katuhpiluh) noun any of several caterpillars or moths (family Lasiocampidae), which spin tent like, silken webs in which they live gregariously …  

  • tent caterpillar — noun chiefly N. Amer. a moth caterpillar that lives gregariously inside a silken web in a tree …   English new terms dictionary

  • tent-caterpillar moth — noun 1. moth whose larvae are tent caterpillars • Syn: ↑Malacosoma americana • Hypernyms: ↑moth • Member Holonyms: ↑Malacosoma, ↑genus Malacosoma 2. moth whose gregarious larvae spin webs resembling carpets …   Useful english dictionary

  • tent caterpillar — noun Date: 1854 any of several destructive gregarious caterpillars (genus Malacosoma and especially M. americanum of the family Lasiocampidae) that constructionct large silken webs on trees …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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