cockchafer

noun

Etymology: From cock (“male bird”) + chafer (“beetle”). The Oxford English Dictionary speculates that the name may relate to a resemblance of antennae to coxcomb, or to the beetle’s size. Compare French hanneton (“cockchafer”), ultimately from Frankish *hanō (“rooster”). First attested in the late 17th century.

1. Any of the large European beetles from the genus Melolontha that are destructive to vegetation.

   “To the person who shall discover to the Society an effectual method, verified by repeated and satisfactory trials, of destroying the Grub of the Cockchafer, so destructive to the roots of all sorts of Corn, Pease, Beans, and Turneps, the gold medal.”

   “His impassioned words buzzed about my ears like cockchafers round the top of the lime-trees.”

2. Any of various other similar beetles, such as of the genera Acrossidius, Cyphochilus, Rhopaea, etc.