cockchafer Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun any of various large European beetles destructive to vegetation as both larvae and adult
    Melolontha melolontha; May beetle; May bug.

WordNet

Cock"chaf`er noun
Etymology
See Chafer the beetle.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) A beetle of the genus Melolontha (esp. M. vulgaris) and allied genera; -- called also May bug, chafer, or dorbeetle.

Webster 1913