About
蝤 is a phono-semantic compound with the semantic radical 虫 (insects or creeping creatures) on the left and the phonetic component 酋 on the right. Its meaning shifts with pronunciation: as "qiú", it refers to tree grubs or longhorn beetle larvae; as "yóu" in the compound "蝤蛑", it denotes a type of swimming crab. The insect radical accommodates both these classical zoological categories, with the specific definition determined by context.
Etymology Hide
