A caterpillar of a New Zealand porina moth (genus Wiseana, family Hepialidae) that has been infected by the parasitic fungus Ophiocordyceps robertsii, which mummifies the insect below a covering of soil or leaf litter before sending up a slender fruiting body; also called vegetable caterpillar. In later use also: a caterpillar of the same family parasitized by the fungus O. sinensis, found in the highlands of central Asia and used in traditional medicine.