This is another name for cicada. Spine is a kind of cicada, with a small body, a bluish green back and a crisp and mellow voice. "Boiling soup" refers to cicada singing and boiling soup rolling, which means disturbing people.
The "sting" in this idiom is different from the previous idiom and should be the abbreviation of "sting mantis". "Leave an axe" means "gladiator axe". "Mantis axe" is the front foot of mantis, so it is named because it is often held high like a man holding an axe. "Weifeng" refers to the thorn of a hedgehog. The metaphor of "killing an axe at a charge" is weak.
Cicada is a kind of cicada, with small body, square head, wide forehead and patterns. "A cicada's head flies with a moth's eyebrow" describes the beauty of a woman's face.
Mayflies shake trees. Mayflies are big ants.
The "midge" here refers to the "salamander", that is, the larva of the longicorn beetle. In modern times, "grubs" generally refer to grubs, that is, the larvae of scarabs. "Chu waist collar" describes a woman with a slim figure and a white neck.
Butterflies complain that "flies" refer to crickets or locusts. "Butterfly is bitter and sad" is a metaphor for homesickness. In the name of modern entomology, "Hemiptera" is a rare insect in China.
Frog acyl chicken is a midge or small insect that moves on wine vinegar or sour wine. "Well frog acyl chicken" is a metaphor for poor vision and shallow knowledge.
Moths attach themselves to bees. Here, moths communicate with ants. "Moth with bee" refers to gathering like ants and bees, and describes it.
Morphological characteristics of insects in Chinese idioms
Some Chinese idioms clearly apply the morphological characteristics of some insects, such as body shape, body color, head shape, compound eyes, beak, tentacles, wings, feet and so on. It is not clear what insects or parts are used in a few idioms related to insects. Textual research and summary are as follows.
Most of the insects in China's idioms are small, indicating insignificant people and things, and some of them are overreaching. Such as "flies shake trees", "flies have small profits", "flies have snail names", "mosquitoes fly over mountains" and "mosquitoes fly over ears".
Most of the bees in Hymenoptera have a narrow line between their breasts and abdomen, which is called "thin waist", which is a metaphor for people's slender or thin posture in idioms. Such as "bee waist cuts back", "bee waist ape back" and "bee waist crane knee".
The body color of Anoplophora longicorn larvae is white, which is used in idioms to describe the whitening of women's necks. Such as "Chu waist collar".
A cicada with a wide forehead is used to describe a woman's face in idioms. Such as "a cicada's head flies a moth's eyebrow"
The compound eye of the compound eye wasp is prominent, and there is a thorn at the end of the abdomen. Idioms are used to describe people's fierce looks, ugliness and fierce temperament. For example, The Buzz of Bees.
The mouthparts of the beak cicada are sucking mouthparts, and the lower lip is specialized as a beak tube, which contains specialized oral needles of the upper and lower jaws. Usually the beak is close to the chest and abdomen, like the drooping part of the ancient crown belt after knotting under the chin. This is the meaning of the word "cicada" in the idiom "cicada and crab". The metaphor of "cicada and crab" is contradictory or not worthy of the name.
The "moth eyebrow" in the antenna idiom "cicada-headed moth eyebrow" originally refers to the slender arc antenna of moths, which is a metaphor for the beautiful eyebrows of women.
Winged cicadas have light, thin and transparent wings. The "cicada slough shirt" in the idiom "cicada slough shirt" refers to clothes made of thin silk. "cicada unlined upper garment forest belt" is a metaphor for elegant and gorgeous clothes; "Cicada is the most important, and hordes are the least important" describes the confusion between right and wrong.
The front foot of the mantis is a scratching foot, which looks very powerful, but it is naturally dwarfed by its powerful strength. The idioms "Feng Wei's axe", "mantis wheel" and "mantis arm blocking the car" all refer to mantis's front foot, which are all metaphors of overreaching.
Other idioms include "(mosquito) cilia", "insect nest mosquito cilia" and "mantis wheel". "Mosquito Cilia" or "Cilia" is also called "Mosquito Eyebrows". In fact, mosquitoes have no real eyelashes or eyebrows. "Mosquito cilia in a snipe's nest" is just a legend, and "mosquito cilia" or "mosquito eyebrows" were just invented by the ancients to describe an extremely narrow place. If there must be "mosquito cilia" or "mosquito eyebrows", it can only refer to the bristle cluster above the mosquito compound eye.
Biological characteristics of insects in Chinese idioms
The biological characteristics of insects used in Chinese idioms include metamorphosis, feeding habits, feeding methods, clustering, tropism, nesting, cocoon formation, vocalization, luminescence, self-defense, longevity, spawning place and mode, etc.
Metamorphic insects go through several molting and metamorphosis in their lifetime. The idiom "a cicada sheds its shell" means that a cicada nymph sheds its skin and becomes an adult to get rid of its opponent's pursuit; "Spider swimming" is a metaphor to achieve skilled skills through the spider's swimming net and the deformation of cicada.
Eating mantis is a famous carnivorous insect, and idioms such as "mantis catches cicada, yellowbird comes last" reflect this from the side; Some insects are saprophytic, so there is the idiom "saprophytic". Now it is said that there must be an internal reason for the disaster.
Feeding method: the mouthparts of silkworm larvae are chewy and can bite mulberry leaves bit by bit, so the idiom "whale-eating" describes that they gradually devour the interests of others like silkworms; Some insects, such as midges, can drill wood to make fire, which is reflected in the idiom "rats bite people to eat", while "giant midges" describe traitors, and "midges" in "biting the country and harming the people" refer to acts that endanger the country; Cicada's mouthparts are absorptive, so it can only suck in liquid food, and can't munch on the branches and leaves of trees. The ancients thought that cicadas who only drank dew must have an empty stomach and small intestine like turtles who had not eaten for a long time, so they used "cicada's stomach and turtle's intestines" to compare hunger and poverty.
Some insects, especially social insects, tend to gather in large numbers. Idioms are used to describe the gathering of people, such as "gathering ants", "gathering ants" and "gathering ants".
There are various tendencies to seek insects sexually, and these tendencies are also reflected in China's idioms, such as "attaching to an ant", "ants attaching to a fly", "fish repelling flies", "chasing a smelly husband" and "attracting bees to attract butterflies". Some of them are also related to the eating habits of insects.
Nesting Some insects, especially social insects, build nests. Soil-dwelling termites nest in soil, which will lead to cavities in dams and endanger their safety. This idiom is used to describe that if you don't pay attention to small problems, it will lead to great disaster.
Cocoon making Some insects can make cocoons, such as silkworms, which have been used since ancient times. The idiom "make a cocoon and bind yourself" means that people are troubled and trapped by themselves; The metaphor of "cocoon peeling and spinning" is to seek the occurrence and development process of things according to the order; "Spinning from a cocoon alone" is a metaphor for poems with clear organization, clear context or unilateral admiration.
Some insects can sing. Idioms such as "butterfly complains about sorrow", "silent as a cicada", "competing for a cold horse", "competing for a mouthful of soup", "frog croaking" and "cicada gasping for thunder" are used to describe people's different moods and moods or environments. "Gathering mosquitoes into thunder" is a metaphor that many people clamor for.
Glow Some insects can glow, such as fireflies in Snowland Fireflies.
Self-defense Some insects have the ability of self-defense. For example, wasps sting their enemies with poisonous needles turned from ovipositors. In idioms, meaning is vicious and should not be underestimated. Such as "wolf fierce bee venom", "bee sting is poisonous" and "teasing bees to eat stings".
Life span Some insects seem to have a short life span. For example, the ancients thought that the life span of Mayflies was very short, generally less than 1 day, and the longest was only 3 days. China's idiom "Mayfly" means that the life of some things is short.
Where and how to lay eggs Dragonflies lay eggs on aquatic objects in flight. The idiom "skimming the water" means not doing things in depth.
Defecation flies can lick semi-liquid food and excrete black feces, which will pollute white objects. Idioms such as "green flies touch white" and "green flies refer to jade (jade)" are used to describe villains slandering others with slanders.
Ecological characteristics of insects in Chinese idioms
Some idioms reflect the relationship between some insects and the environment from the side, such as "running water does not rot, family members don't bite" and "silence is like cicada". Literally, it means that the door shaft that rotates frequently is not easy to produce moths; The "cold cicada" in Silence refers to the cicada in late autumn, because it doesn't sing because of the cold weather.
Several unscientific insect idioms
Because most idioms come from ancient sayings and the ancients didn't know enough about insects, there are some unscientific descriptions of insects in idioms. Here are some examples:
Silkworms spin cocoons and wrap themselves in them, which means that people want to be good for themselves, but as a result, they get themselves into trouble, which also means binding their hands and feet. In fact, cocoon is not used to ask for trouble, but to protect pupae that can't climb and fly.
The idiom "A moth puts out a fire" comes from "The Biography of Liang Shu to Irrigation": "How can a moth set herself on fire?" . It means appreciating dedication. Now it is widely said that it is suicide. In fact, moths are not dedicated to fire, nor are they seeking death, but because moths have phototaxis. People use this habit to lure moths with black light (its wavelength is more suitable for insect vision), which can be used to investigate the species and quantity of pests, kill pests or collect moth specimens.
It is a misunderstanding that the ancient people in "Mayfly" thought that Mayfly was "Mayfly". Mayfly larvae (larvae) have to live in water for one to three years, or even five or six years, before they can become adults and fly out of the water. Of course, its adult life is very short, the shortest is only a few hours, and the longest is only six or seven days. Perhaps due to the limitation of cognition, the ancients only paid attention to the adult stage of ephemera, so they thought that ephemera was a flash in the pan.
The idiom "cicada's belly and turtle's intestines" is used to describe this poor situation, because the ancients thought that cicadas only drank dew and their stomachs must be empty. In fact, cicadas don't drink dew for a living, but use their sucking mouthparts to stab into the twigs of trees and suck the sap of trees, so they are "vampires" of trees.