MAY BUG

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does May bug mean? 

• MAY BUG (noun)
  The noun MAY BUG has 2 senses:

1. any of various large European beetles destructive to vegetation as both larvae and adult

2. any of various large usually brown North American leaf-eating beetles common in late spring; the larvae feed on roots of grasses etc.

  Familiarity information: MAY BUG used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MAY BUG (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of various large European beetles destructive to vegetation as both larvae and adult

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

cockchafer; May beetle; May bug; Melolontha melolontha

Hypernyms ("May bug" is a kind of...):

melolonthid beetle (any of various beetles of the family (or subfamily) Melolonthidae)

Holonyms ("May bug" is a member of...):

genus Melolontha; Melolontha (a genus of Melolonthidae)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any of various large usually brown North American leaf-eating beetles common in late spring; the larvae feed on roots of grasses etc.

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

June beetle; June bug; May beetle; May bug

Hypernyms ("May bug" is a kind of...):

scarabaean; scarabaeid; scarabaeid beetle (any of numerous species of stout-bodied beetles having heads with horny spikes)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "May bug"):

figeater; green June beetle (large greenish June beetle of southern United States)