Palmer-worm

The palmer-worm translates the Hebrew gazam, one of several insect terms in the prophetic literature associated with devastating agricultural plagues. The term appears in Joel 1:4, where four different destructive insects — the palmer-worm, the locust, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar — are named as agents of a comprehensive devastation of crops: That which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten.

The precise identity of gazam is uncertain; it may denote a specific species of locust or caterpillar, or it may function as a generic term for a crop-devouring insect. Some scholars interpret the four insects of Joel 1:4 as four stages of the locust's development rather than four distinct species. The passage is used by the Lord in Joel 2:25 as a promise of restoration: God will repay the years the palmer-worm has eaten, making the agricultural imagery a vehicle for covenant hope.