CATERPILLAR  , the popular name of the larva of various

insects, particularly of butterflies and moths (see LEPIDOPTERA, HEXAPODA, METAMORPHOSIS) . The word appears first in the form cater pyl (Promptorium Parvulorum, about the middle of the 15th century) . This may be the original form, with the addition of -ar or -er; if so, it represents the O . Fr. chatepelose or chatepeleuse, i.e . "hairy-cat " (chat, cat, and pelouse, hairy, Lat. pilosus), a name applied to the hairy caterpillar, and also according to Cotgrave to a weevil . The use of " cat in this connexion is paralleled by the Swiss name for a caterpillar, teufelskatz, and the popular English name for the blossom of the willow, " catkin," somewhat resembling a caterpillar (cf . " palmer ") ; the modern French is chenille, Latin canicula, a little dog . The termination of the word seems to have been early connected with " piller," a robber, plunderer from the destructive habits of the larva, cf . Joel i . 4—" That which the palmer-worm hath left, hath the locust eaten." The spelling " caterpillar," a 19th century corruption, has been the usual form since Johnson .