DOES anybody remember an insect called a "may bug"?

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Real23Phil@reddit

Never saw one in the UK had them in Germany though.

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Fantastic-Speech-438@reddit

We used to get loads on the Isle of Man when my parents lived there for a few years. Can't remember ever seeing one in North Yorkshire where I'm originally from.

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aweaselonwheels@reddit

Yes although they are better known as Cockchafers : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockchafer

Big flying (not well) beetles that are a pest. They can get attracted to the warm sides of buildings and you can get a swarm of them on the brickwork.

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smellyfeet25@reddit (OP)

Was it only my mum that called them that lol.? . I recall her closing the windows in the evening because of the threat of "may bugs" coming in.

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May bugs, cockchafers, or doodlebugs. They’re harmless I think, but scare the life out of me when they get in the house. They fly like they’re drunk, and crash on a regular basis. They’re a bit rubbish at taking off from the ground, so that’s a handy opportunity to get them back outside!

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phoebean93@reddit

Known as billywitches in Suffolk and Norfolk for some reason.

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Alicam123@reddit

It’s because they only live for 31 days average

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swchef10@reddit

I know them as maybugs. My wife and I worked in a hotel in Dumfries and Galloway and they used to fly into the living room window at night. Sounded like little stones hitting when it happened and it freaked her right out🤣. We also had rabbits back then and they used to love a maybug. Used to find what looked like hazelnut shells in the bottom of their hutches when cleaning them out

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Reasonable-Key9235@reddit

That’s how I always knew them until I was in my 20’s

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aweaselonwheels@reddit

Oh no, they are also called Maybugs commonly but if you think nobody was going to miss the opportunity to post Cockchafer on Reddit then you are on the wrong website 😄

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MJLDat@reddit

What a charming name.

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aweaselonwheels@reddit

From the link, it puts the etymology as :

The name "cockchafer"^([22]) derives from the late-17th-century usage of "cock"^([23]) (in the sense of expressing size or vigour) + "chafer"^([24]) which simply means an insect of this type, referring to its propensity for gnawing and damaging plants. The term "chafer" has its root in Old English ceafor or cefer, of Germanic origin and is related to the Dutch kever, all of which mean "gnawer" as it relates to the jaw. As such, the name "cockchafer" can be understood to mean "large plant-gnawing beetle" and is applicable to its history as a pest animal.

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testdasi@reddit

I know that's the official etymology but l chuckle at the thought that it was named as such because the entomologist was bitten on his private part.

"What a cockchafer you are!" (in David Attenborough's voice).

This is getting really weird really fast...

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MaybeThisTime67@reddit

Now I understand the preference for an alternative name

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Helicreature@reddit

One flew into our bedroom just last week ( windows wide open, light on at night). It scared the bejaysus out of us. It was big and loud. We shepherded it back out of a window and then looked up what it was because neither of us had ever seen one.

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Alicam123@reddit

Yeah usually about July/august, everyone called them May bugs because of how long they live for 31 days average. They live to breed and then die, we see them every year in Suffolk.

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Brilliant_Quail6889@reddit

Yep, Maybugs where I grew up. They used to fly down our chimney and I hated them. We used to have to paper over the fireplace to stop them coming in and you could hear them hitting the paper. I know they're harmless but I can't quite let that fear go!

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Oh-reality-come-back@reddit

Saw one about 3 years ago. Absolutely massive , about the size of a full grown man. Well only because it flew into my face whilst I was napping in the park

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Zedsee99@reddit

I always knew them as billywitches.

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moon-bouquet@reddit

I love regional names for things! Where’s that from?

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Zedsee99@reddit

Suffolk

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StockholmGirl29@reddit

We call these big clumsy beetles "ollenborre" in Swedish. This means "acorn borer". I love the name "cockchafer" btw. It's very British!

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jnnewbe@reddit

We had a bunch of them fly into our bathroom window the other night, we had to close the window and turn the light off

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moon-bouquet@reddit

Bane of campsites if you have to go to a loo block in the night and they’re like goblins on motorbikes flying clumsily everywhere and bonking into windows.

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Redgrapefruitrage@reddit

Goblins on motorbikes - Perfect description!

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Redgrapefruitrage@reddit

Yes. They are everywhere! Very loud flying beetles. You get taught that if they stuck in your hair, you’ll have to get chunks of your hair cut out.

We called them “billywitches” in Suffolk.

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Jolly-Avocado0@reddit

Yes - if you mean fairly large beetles! I remember being scared they'd get stuck in my hair and would have to have them cut out.

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m1_ab@reddit

Oh my god you just unlocked a memory I didn't know I had. My mum told me about them getting stuck in hair, absolutely terrified me and whenever I'd see one on the side of the house I'd run inside (through whichever door was furthest away from said may bug) and refuse to go back outside until it had gone 😭😭

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Jolly-Avocado0@reddit

Yeah I have vague memories of my mum (or maybe my grandma?) telling me they'd get stuck in my hair while I was walking home from school one day! I was scared of them ever since 😅

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originalcinner@reddit

I was scared of anything getting stuck in my hair. Chewing gum, butterflies, bats. Especially bats.

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New-Replacement-7638@reddit

One landed on my shoulder while I was in the sea in cornwall last year. I screamed so loud I’m surprised the lifeguards didn’t come out.

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Sxn747Strangers@reddit

Yes, Maybug is another name for a Common Cockchafer beetle.

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Sxn747Strangers@reddit

Yeah, they’re also called Cockchafer Beetles I think, but I can check to be sure, they’re still around.

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CMR1891@reddit

No, but what the hell happened to those little brick spiders? Not seen them since I was a kid. My bricks used to be riddled with little red spiders

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Reasonable-Key9235@reddit

Yeah, seen millions of the bloody things

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FlorianTheLynx@reddit

Plenty of the buggers around here. They’re like drunken bludgers

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Motor-Assist9493@reddit

They are the bugs inside cuckoo spit, I think.

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Nooodlepip@reddit

They’re my second most feared insect, after tics. They used to crash against my window. Nightmare.

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smellyfeet25@reddit (OP)

I think one crawled down the fireplace when i was a baby. My mum told me

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escoces@reddit

Round my way they were called cuntscrabbers. My grandma used to collect 'em

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purplechemist@reddit

A cockchafer? We caught one in our house just last week.

And yes, we giggled like anything at the name.

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Snowy_Sasquatch@reddit

Yes and they seemed to be fairly prolific where I am about a fortnight ago.

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SnooLobsters8265@reddit

Mayflies? They once nested in the aircon of our car and loads of them flew out like something from a horror film when we turned it on. Absolutely hideous. We would regularly see the car for sale in the local area in the years following.

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BadgerTB@reddit

A huge maybug flew into my hoodie when I was walking into a curry house once...freaking the shit out of both myself and the waiter!!

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RobsOffDaGrid@reddit

Big brown tank of a beetle

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jsy_girl@reddit

Only ever saw one in Loughborough. Scared the living bejesus out of me as it crashed aimlessly around my bedroom. Horrendously noisy.

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FieldyGB@reddit

Mayflies, yes. Loads of them about at the moment (it being May and all) no idea about may bugs though.

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Willsagain2@reddit

Not the same thing at all. Maybugs are also called June bugs

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Dutch_Slim@reddit

Not the same thing, a may fly is a fly, a may bug is a beetle.

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WineWeinVino@reddit

I hate those hard-shelled, flying bastards.

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ohsaycanyourock@reddit

We called them June bugs when I was growing up! Maybe they come out earlier now haha

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New_Serve_7309@reddit

Yes, I’ve seen 3 in the last few days. Wife had never seen one. Sound of them flying at the window as a kid terrified me. Sure they did some weird tapping noise.

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Rude_Trouble_4075@reddit

As a non native… thank you for naming these pesky cockchafers! Lol

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BookishHobbit@reddit

Yeah we used to see them a lot but I don’t think I’ve seen one in decades!

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NoCatch2153@reddit

Yes, they only live in certain areas near me. You can live in 2 places 5 miles apart and either see them every year or go your life never even knowing they exist.

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Usual_Cryptographer3@reddit

Yep! My grandma used to live by the sea and let me adopt one as a pet from her garden when we went to visit. I remember it was huge and pretty gross. When we took the train home I went to the corner shop and bossman let me have a huge empty lollipop container. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly despite feeding it grass and privet it died pretty soon afterwards 😔 This was probably about 35 years ago now...

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