miller moth
noun1
Any of several species of moths with pale, dusty wings.
- One of those small white moths, known as '• millers," went past him. […]. Even the miller-moth had gone.1890, Juliana Horatia Gatty Ewing, Jan of the Windmill: A Story of the Plains, page 29:
- [H]e saw one of those great white miller's souls as we call 'em—that is to say, a miller-moth—come from William's open mouth while he slept, and fly straight away.1894, Thomas Hardy, “[A Few Crusted Characters.] The Superstitious Man’s Story”, in Life’s Little Ironies […], London: Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC, pages 253–254:
1 more example
- They caught a large moth called a miller for its dusty white wings, […] after which they crushed the miller-moth for his misdeeds.1984, Steven Laurence Kaplan, Provisioning Paris: Merchants and Millers in the Grain and Flour Trade, page 284:
2
Any of the cutworm moths in genus Agrotis or in tribe Agrotini,
› Any of several species of moths with pale… › Any of the cutworm moths in genus Agrotis or…
3
especially an army cutworm (Euxoa auxiliaris), in America.
4
Any moth of species Acronicta leporina, in Britain.
5
A goat moth (Cossus cossus).
- Related terms
- flour moth