Meaning
A big, clumsy, hard-shelled beetle that appears in numbers around early summer — blundering into lights, walls, and people at night with a loud buzzing and a hard bump. Children catch them, sometimes tying a thread to a leg to fly them like a tiny kite. Their sudden seasonal swarming makes the June bug a familiar marker of the warm evenings.
Examples
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Di june bug dem a buzz roun di light.
The june bugs are buzzing around the light.
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A june bug fly inna mi hair.
A june bug flew into my hair.
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Pickney tie thread pon di june bug foot.
Children tie thread to the june bug's leg.
Origin
From 'June' (its season) + 'bug'; a large summer beetle. See [[hard-back-beetle]], [[peenie-wallie]].
How it’s used
A big clumsy summer beetle that swarms lights at night. See [[hard-back-beetle]], [[peenie-wallie]].