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Glite Dictionary
🦋 A moth species 🐛 A green larva
Manduca sexta

Manduca sexta

9.9
A moth from the Americas often used in labs to study how insects grow and behave
  • proper noun
  • /mænˈduːkə ˈsɛkstə/
  • Specialized
translation icon : Manduca sexta
  • The larvae of Manduca sexta are commonly called tobacco hornworms and feed on tobacco and tomato plants.

Examples

  • Researchers frequently study Manduca sexta to understand insect development and behavior.

  • Did you know that Manduca sexta larvae can grow up to four inches long?

  • In the laboratory, Manduca sexta is a model organism for scientific experiments.

  • The Manduca sexta is commonly found in gardens across North America.

  • In the laboratory, Manduca sexta is a model organism for scientific experiments.

  • Researchers frequently study Manduca sexta to understand insect development and behavior.

  • Did you know that Manduca sexta larvae can grow up to four inches long?

Surface Forms

Manduca sexta main

Morphology

Manduca + sexta

This is a Latin binomial: knowing 'Manduca' as a genus of moths lets a learner infer the phrase names a species in that genus, so there is some compositional clue. However, 'sexta' is a Latin element not part of everyday English and the precise meaning 'large green larva / tobacco hornworm' is specialist knowledge that cannot be derived from the parts alone, making the expression only partially transparent to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Manduca sexta comes from Latin words: Manduca links to 'to chew' and sexta means 'sixth'. The picture of a 'chewing' moth helps you remember this species, whose larvae are the tobacco hornworms often used in lab studies.