Chinese character 蟓

Its classic sense is a mulberry-feeding silkworm.

The Erya, an early Chinese dictionary, pairs 蟓 with 桑繭 (“mulberry cocoon”) and describes an insect that eats mulberry leaves and makes that cocoon. This old taxonomy distinguishes cocoon-makers by the plants they feed on. Other names in the same tradition, including 雔由 and 蚢, follow that host-plant logic.

Later dictionaries keep other insect senses: 蟓蛉 is an older name for the mole cricket, and one gloss records 蟓 for ants. In sericulture—raising silkworms for silk—蟓 can mean a wild silkworm with a dark, flatter cocoon attached to a tree. The ordinary Chinese word for silkworm is 蠶 in traditional writing or 蚕 in simplified writing; 蟓 is an older or specialist label.

What does 蟓 mean when someone sends it?

Read it as a character, not a standard reaction.

As of 2026, 蟓 has no established emoji-style reaction meaning. Sent alone, it could be a quoted character, a lookup, a typo, or a literal insect reference; ask for context if its tone matters.