insect, snake

虫 is a pictograph of a snake, originally meaning snake. This meaning was later taken over by 蛇, and 虫 came to represent wriggling insects or small crawling animals, with or without legs. The character 虫 also gave rise to 蟲. Nowadays, 虫 is not used independently and only serves as a radical or component in other characters. Both 虫 and 它 are derived from the pictograph of a snake. As both characters later took on other meanings, the character 蛇 was created to specifically refer to the snake.