How to Write 螉 (wēng) — Meaning “Wasp / Gadfly”

Picture an old man (翁) getting stung by a wasp (虫) on his bald head — the buzzing insect makes him shout "Weng!" The sound of his shout matches the pinyin wēng, and the scene connects the two parts of the character. This vivid image helps you recall that 螉 is a stinging insect associated with the sound wēng.

When writing 螉, pay attention to the left radical 虫: it has a small dot on top and a hook at the bottom, and it should be narrow. On the right side, 翁 has many horizontal strokes — keep them parallel and evenly spaced, especially in the lower 羽 part. A common mistake is making the right side too wide; the whole character should be balanced left to right.

螉 (wasp/gadfly) uses the phonetic 翁, while 蜘 (zhī, spider) uses 知, and 蜚 (fēi, cockroach or rumor) uses 非. Their meanings are completely different: 螉 is a flying stinging insect, 蜘 is a spider, and 蜚 often appears in the word 蜚语 (rumor). Visually, 蜚 has the radical 虫 at the bottom, not on the left like 螉.

螉 is a rare character not included in the HSK vocabulary list, but it appears in words like 螉子 (wasp/gadfly), 飞螉 (gadfly), and 捉螉 (to catch wasps). It is mostly found in classical literature, dialectal expressions, or entomological texts. For everyday conversation, Chinese speakers usually use the more common word 黄蜂 (huángfēng) for wasp.

Common words containing 螉 include: 螉子 (wēng zi) — Wasp / Gadfly; 飞螉 (fēi wēng) — gadfly; 捉螉 (zhuō wēng) — to catch wasps.