ghost moth

noun

Etymology: so called from the white color of the male and its habit of hovering in flight

: a moth of the family Hepialidae most American members of which are crepuscular

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swift (def. 9).

[1825-35]

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ghost moth noun

A moth (Hepialus humuli), the male of ghostly white appearance, the caterpillar destructive to hop-gardens

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Main Entry: ↑ghost

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ghost moth,

any one of a family of lepidopterous, nocturnal insects with short antennae and long wings, whose larvae burrow in the roots or beneath the bark of trees.

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(also ghost swift) n. a medium to large swift moth, the male of which has white wings. ● Family Hepialidae. See swift (sense 2)