train millipede; Parafontaria laminata
A species of large millipede native to Japan, known for occasional mass outbreaks that can disrupt train services, hence the name 'train millipede'.
キシャヤスデが線路に大量発生して電車が止まった。
Trains were stopped because of a mass outbreak of train millipedes on the tracks.
General term for millipedes; キシャヤスデ is a specific species.
Standard katakana spelling; usually written in kana.
Ateji spelling using kanji for 'steam train' and 'millipede'; rarely used in practice.
From 汽車 (steam train) + ヤスデ (millipede), referring to the species' historical disruption of train services.