Easton's Bible Dictionary: M. G. Easton, M.A., D.D.
(Heb.
yelek), "the licking locust," which licks up the grass of the field; probably the locust at a certain stage of its growth, just as it emerges from the caterpillar state (
Joel 1:4, 2:25). The word is rendered "caterpillar" in
Ps. 105:34; Jer. 51:14, 17 (but R.V. "canker-worm"). "It spoileth and fleeth away" (
Nah. 3:16), or as some read the passage, "The cankerworm putteth off [i.e., the envelope of its wings], and fleeth away."