Lexic.us

Definition of Horntail

1. n. Any one of family (Uroceridæ) of large hymenopterous insects, allied to the sawflies. The larvæ bore in the wood of trees. So called from the long, stout ovipositors of the females.

Definition of Horntail

1. Noun. The wood wasp. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Horntail

1. a wasplike insect [n -S]

Medical Definition of Horntail

1. Any one of family (Uroceridae) of large hyminopterous insects, allied to the sawflies. The larvae bore in the wood of trees. So called from the long, stout ovipositors of the females. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Horntail

Literary usage of Horntail

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Manual of Fruit Insects by Mark Vernon Slingerland, Cyrus Richard Crosby (1914)
"THE RASPBERRY horntail ... spiral burrows of the young larvae of a small yellow and black horntail fly. The adults are slender, four- winged flies about f ..."

2. Butterflies and Bees: The Insect Folk : Volume II by Margaret Warner Morley (1905)
"Yes; like the ovipositor of the ichneumon, that of the horntail sometimes gets wedged in so tightly that it cannot be pulled out. ..."

3. Evolution and Animal Life: An Elementary Discussion of Facts, Processes by David Starr Jordan, Vernon Lyman Kellogg (1907)
"The larva that hatches from this egg creeps along this burrow until it reaches its victim, and then fastens itself to the horntail larva, which it destroys ..."

4. Wood and Forest by William Noyes (1912)
"The larva soon finds its victim, the grub of the Pigeon horntail, and lives on it to its destruction. It would seem that it is a hopeless task to control ..."

5. Insecta. by Alpheus Hyatt, Jennie Maria Arms Sheldon (1890)
"The ovipositor (os) of the horntail is not a saw, but a borer, and is attached near the middle of the lower side of the ..."

6. Leaves from Nature's Story-book by Meriba Ada Babcock Kelly (1893)
"And what safer place can there be," she added, " than the body of a baby horntail, that is itself safely hidden away in the trunk of a tall tree like this? ..."

7. Insects Affecting Park and Woodland Trees by Ephraim Porter Felt (1906)
"667 A large, black, 4-winged fly an inch long and having some resemblance to a wasp but with a stout, cylindric body, attacks spruce Banded horntail, ..."

Other Resources: