May-bugn.
/ˈmeɪbʌɡ/, U.S. /ˈmeɪˌbəɡ/ Any of various chafer beetles (family Scarabaeidae) which appear in late spring, many of which are serious plant pests; spec.† c. The garden chafer, Phyllopertha horticola. Obsolete.
a. The cockchafer, Melolontha melolontha.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Lamellicornia Scarabaeoidea > family Scarabaeidae > genus Melolontha > member of (cockchafer)
chaferc1000
kafer1599
cockchafer1668
miller1668
May-bug1688
May-beetle1720
oak-web1720
humbuzz1756
May-chafer1766
dor-beetle1774
locust1790
fern-web1796
melolonthian1841
lamellicorn1842
furze-owl1847
rose beetle1856
melolonthid1928
billywitch1933
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. ix. 194/2 The Beetle, May-bug, or Chaffer, is produced from the strait Beetle-worm, and Whirle-worm, the one being straight, the other having his tail inverted and turned under his belly.
1698 tr. F. Froger Relation Voy. Coasts Afr. 48 The Colibrie is a small bird, no bigger than a May-bugg.
1712 J. James tr. A.-J. Dézallier d'Argenville Theory & Pract. Gardening 140 May-Bugs..are by some called Chafers, or Cock-chafers.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VIII. 130 The may-bug, or dorr-beetle.
1959 E. F. Linssen Beetles Brit. Isles 2nd Ser. 124 The adults emerge in May (hence the popular name May-bug).
1983 Birds Spring 29 (caption) One of the striking springtime insects is the cockchafer or maybug.
b. North American. Any of numerous chafers of the genus Phyllophaga, esp. P. rugosa. Also called June bug, June beetle, May beetle.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Lamellicornia Scarabaeoidea > family Scarabaeidae > member of genus Phyllopertha (May-bug)
chovy1784
May-bug1835
May-beetle1842
May-bug1860
bracken-clock1884
1835 Harvardiana June 314 The multiplicity of May-bugs..rendered writing by candle-light highly inconvenient.
1883 Encycl. Amer. I. 138/2 The White Grub..is the larva of the well-known ‘May-bug’ or ‘June-bug’.
1988 Chicago Tribune 4 Sept. i. 23/1 Armies of June bugs, May bugs, flying cockroaches, flying termites, dragonflies and mosquitoes that seemed as big as sparrows.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Lamellicornia Scarabaeoidea > family Scarabaeidae > member of genus Phyllopertha (May-bug)
chovy1784
May-bug1835
May-beetle1842
May-bug1860
bracken-clock1884
1860 J. Curtis Farm Insects Index May-bug or beetle—Anisoplia horticola.
1884 Christian World 18 Sept. 697/2 The sparrow..eats ‘chovies’, or May bugs.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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