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カワゲラ (かわげら) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

カワゲラ

か

わ

げ

ら

Meanings

1

noun

stonefly

usually written using kana alone

Refers to any insect of the order Plecoptera, especially those in the family Perlidae. Typically written in katakana as カワゲラ.

渓けい流りゅうでカワゲラの幼よう虫ちゅうを見みつけた。
I found a stonefly larva in the mountain stream.
カワゲラは清せい流りゅうにしか生せい息そくしない。
Stoneflies only live in clean streams.

Written forms

カワゲラUsage100%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling is standard for this insect name; usually written in kana.
川螻蛄かわげら
Rare kanji spelling; 螻蛄 is an uncommon character for 'mole cricket' and may not be recognized by many readers.
襀翅かわげら
Obscure kanji spelling using characters for 'pleat' and 'wing'; not in common use.
𧐐かわげら
Extremely rare single-character kanji form; likely not supported in many fonts.

Kanji

川stream, river, river or three-stroke river radical (no. 47)

螻mole cricket

蛄mole cricket, cicada

襀pleat, fold, tuck

翅(insect) wings, fly, merely

Similar words

カゲロウ
カゲロウ (mayfly) is a different aquatic insect order (Ephemeroptera); stoneflies have two pairs of membranous wings and longer antennae.
トビケラ
トビケラ (caddisfly) is another aquatic insect often found in similar habitats, but its larvae build cases, unlike stonefly larvae.

Etymology

The name カワゲラ likely derives from 川 (kawa, 'river') and 螻蛄 (kera, 'mole cricket'), referring to its river habitat and cricket-like appearance. The exact historical derivation is uncertain.