How to Write 虼 (gè) — Meaning “Flea (prefix)”

Picture a tiny flea (虫) asking for a "gè" (sound like "get") ride on a dog. The right side 乞 looks like a person begging, so imagine the flea begging for a meal. This connects the insect radical to the begging shape and the pronunciation gè.

Start with the radical 虫 (three strokes: vertical, horizontal, then the dot and horizontal, and a final dot). Then write 乞: a left-falling stroke (piě), then a horizontal stroke, and finally a vertical hook. A common mistake is making the right side too wide or writing the hook of 乞 too flat; keep it balanced and compact.

虼 (gè) is a prefix used in insect names like 虼蚤 (flea). 虬 (qiú) refers to a mythical horned dragon and has a different right side (丩). 虮 (jǐ) means the egg of a louse or mite and uses the right side 几. They share the 虫 radical but differ in meaning, pronunciation, and the shape on the right.

虼 is not used alone; it only appears as a prefix in compound words like 虼蚤 (flea) and 虼螂 (dung beetle). These words are common in everyday Chinese, especially when discussing pests or insects. Learning 虼 helps you recognize these animal names, though it is very rare outside of these specific terms.

Common words containing 虼 include: 虼蚤 (gè zǎo) — Flea; 虼螂 (gè láng) — Dung beetle; 虼蚪 (gè dǒu) — Tadpole.