ant
蟻 centers on the insect ant, a small social creature known for its industriousness and colony life.
蟻 combines 虫 (insect) with 義, which likely contributes the sound ギ and may have originally suggested a sense of orderly or righteous behavior, fitting the ant's social nature.
The insect radical 虫 on the left marks this as a bug, and the right side 義 looks like a complex, orderly structure—like an ant colony. Picture a righteous ant carrying a tiny leaf.
For ギ, imagine a giant ant wearing a gi (martial arts uniform) and bowing politely: gi -> ギ, and the ant is a disciplined insect.
ant
termite; white ant
anteater
antlion (larva); doodlebug
red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta)
anthill
giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla)
Argentine ant (Linepithema humile)
Polyergus samurai (species of amazon ant)
soldier ant
a small leak will sink a great ship
Monomorium intrudens (species of ant)
silky anteater (Cyclopes didactylus); pygmy anteater
Formosan subterranean termite (Coptotermes formosanus)
little fire ant (Wasmannia auropunctata); electric ant
wood ant (any ant of genus Formica)
sweet potato weevil (Cylas formicarius)
Japanese carpenter ant (Camponotus japonicus)
web-spinner (any insect of order Embioptera, esp. family Oligotomidae)
leafcutter ant