How to Write 蚋 (ruì) — Meaning “Gnat / Midge”

Imagine a tiny insect (虫) buzzing around a piece of meat (芮 looks like 肉 'meat' with extra strokes). This helps recall that gnats are attracted to meat or decaying matter. The right side 芮 can be split into 艹 (grass) and 内 (inside), so picture a bug hiding inside grass.

Write the radical 虫 first, with the 口 slightly narrow and the bottom stroke extending left. Then add 芮: start with 艹 (two horizontal strokes followed by a vertical), then 内 (a vertical 冂 frame with 入 inside). A common mistake is making the right side too wide or confusing 内 with 肉—remember 芮 has 入 (enter) not 人 (person).

蚋 (gnat/midge) uses the phonetic 芮 and refers to specific tiny flies. 虮 (jǐ) is the egg of a louse or nit, written with 几 inside the insect radical. 虰 (dīng) means a kind of dragonfly or insect, with 丁 as its phonetic. Their meanings and pronunciations are distinct, though all share the insect radical.

蚋 is rarely used alone; it appears in compound words like 蚊蚋 (mosquitoes and gnats) to collectively refer to small biting insects. In Chinese literature, 蚋 can symbolize something tiny and annoying. It is not a common character in everyday conversation but may appear in scientific or descriptive texts about insects.

Common words containing 蚋 include: 蚊蚋 (wén ruì) — Gnats / Midges; 蚋虫 (ruì chóng) — Midge / Gnat; 蚋子 (ruì zi) — Gnat.