insect

Origin & mnemonic

This radical derives from a pictographic depiction of an insect in oracle-bone script and seal script. The three legs below and segmented body structure represent the anatomical features of an insect.

Mnemonic: Remember the three strokes below as the three pairs of insect legs, with the upper body forming the head and abdomen.

• 虫chóng🔊

  variant of 蟲|虫[chong2]

  6 strokes

• 虬qiú🔊

  young dragon with horns

  7 strokes

• 虱shī🔊

  louse

  8 strokes

• 虮jǐ🔊

  nymph of louse

  8 strokes

• 虰dīng🔊

  see 虰蛵[ding1 xing2]

  8 strokes

• 虽suī🔊

  although

  HSK 6

  9 strokes

• 虾xiā🔊

  shrimp

  HSK 7

  9 strokes

• 蚁yǐ🔊

  ant

  9 strokes

• 虹hóng🔊

  rainbow

  9 strokes

• 䖟méng🔊

  old variant of 虻[meng2]

  9 strokes

• 虷gān🔊

  worm

  9 strokes

• 虸zǐ🔊

  used in 虸蚄[zi3 fang1]

  9 strokes

• 虺huǐ🔊

  mythical venomous snake

  9 strokes

• 虻méng🔊

  horsefly

  9 strokes

• 虼gè🔊

  used in 虼蚤[ge4 zao5]

  9 strokes

• 虿chài🔊

  (scorpion)

  9 strokes

• 蚀shí🔊

  to nibble away at sth

  9 strokes

• 蚂mǎ🔊

  used in 螞蟥|蚂蟥[ma3 huang2]

  9 strokes

• 蚃xiǎng🔊

  (literary) insect larva

  9 strokes

• 蚤zǎo🔊

  flea

  9 strokes

• 蚝háo🔊

  oyster

  10 strokes

• 蚕cán🔊

  silkworm

  10 strokes

• 蚌bàng🔊

  mussel

  10 strokes

• 蚄fāng🔊

  used in 虸蚄[zi3 fang1]

  10 strokes

• 蚆bā🔊

  a kind of shell

  10 strokes

• 蚈qiān🔊

  (arch.) firefly

  10 strokes

• 蚉wén🔊

  old variant of 蚊[wen2]

  10 strokes

• 蚊wén🔊

  mosquito

  10 strokes

• 蚋ruì🔊

  (mosquito)

  10 strokes

• 蚍pí🔊

  used in 蚍蜉[pi2 fu2]

  10 strokes

• 蚓yǐn🔊

  used in 蚯蚓[qiu1 yin3]

  10 strokes

• 蚔qí🔊

  green-frog

  10 strokes

• 蚖yuán🔊

  Protura (soil dwelling primitive hexapod)

  10 strokes

• 蚛zhòng🔊

  (literary) (of a worm or insect) to nibble

  10 strokes

• 蚜yá🔊

  aphis

  10 strokes

• 蚡fén🔊

  (mole)

  10 strokes

• 蚣gōng🔊

  used in 蜈蚣[wu2 gong1]

  10 strokes

• 蚦rán🔊

  variant of 蚺[ran2]

  10 strokes

• 蚧jiè🔊

  see 蛤蚧[ge2 jie4]

  10 strokes

• 蚨fú🔊

  (water-beetle)

  10 strokes

• 蚩chī🔊

  ignorant

  10 strokes

• 蚪dǒu🔊

  used in 蝌蚪[ke1 dou3]

  10 strokes

• 蚬xiǎn🔊

  basket clam (clam of family Corbiculidae); (esp.) Corbicula leana 真蜆|真蚬[zhen1 xian3]

  10 strokes

• 蛋dàn🔊

  egg

  HSK 2

  11 strokes

• 蛇shé🔊

  snake

  HSK 5

  11 strokes

• 蛆qū🔊

  maggot

  11 strokes

• 蛊gǔ🔊

  arch. legendary venomous insect

  11 strokes

• 蚯qiū🔊

  used in 蚯蚓[qiu1 yin3]

  11 strokes