About
蝰 is a phono-semantic compound denoting a viper or adder, a type of venomous snake. The radical 虫 (insect/reptile) on the left provides the semantic category, placing it among crawling creatures and snakes. The component 奎 on the right supplies the pronunciation. Used primarily in zoological and biological contexts to classify members of the Viperidae family, the character's meaning is strictly confined to this taxonomic classification, with no metaphorical extension or distinct simplified or traditional forms.