Farmers Slang & Its Analogues. 18901909, rev. 2022.
Black-bug
subs. phr. (old).A hobgoblin.
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1598. FLORIO, A Worlde of Wordes, s.v. Lemúri, the ghostes or spirits of such as dye before their time, hobgoblins, BLACK-BUGS, or night-walking spirits.