aweto

noun

äˈwet(ˌ)ō,

äˈfe-

plural -s

: a composite structure that occurs in New Zealand, that when dried and burned yields a useful black pigment, and that is made up of the mummified body of a caterpillar killed by the attack of a parasitic ascomycetous fungus (Cordyceps robustus) together with the elongated fruiting body of the fungus which projects from the neck of the mummy

called also vegetable caterpillar

Word History

Etymology

Maori

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