一切經音義 41.201

41.201

螟蛉 "Caterpillar of the owlet moth" (The first character is pronounced mi-ping [ming]; the second is pronounced li-ding [ling]. Lu Ji's Shijing Maoshi chongyu shu says: "A small green caterpillar resembling an inchworm; green in color, fine and small; sometimes found among grasses. That which the solitary wasp (guoluo) carries away to make its young is this. The guoluo is an earth wasp, also called yeweng." 蜾 is pronounced guo; 蠃 is pronounced lu-guo; 蠮 is pronounced yan-jie; 螉 is pronounced wu-gong. Xu Shen says: "A slender-waisted wasp; it takes caterpillars from the mulberry tree and carries them into the soil, into book rolls, or into brush tubes, and after seven days they transform into its young. Therefore, common proverbs say it chants the incantation: 'Resemble me! Resemble me!'" Guo Pu's commentary on the Fangyan says: "The yeweng is a small slender-waisted wasp").