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The character 蝻 is an entomological term for the wingless nymph stage of a locust, before its wings have developed. Its structure is a phono-semantic compound: the radical 虫 (chóng) indicates the insect and worm category, while the right-hand component 南 (nán) serves as the phonetic. Historically, locust swarms posed such a severe agricultural threat that distinct terms for each life stage emerged for pest control; as a result, 蝻 remains strictly a biological term for this exact phase.
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