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I keep seeing "蝈蝈", "蟋蟀" and "蛐蛐" being used interchangeably in Mandarin for some topolectical words.

蝈蝈 seems to refer to a:

katydid

蟋蟀 seems to be a:

cricket

and 蛐蛐 also seems to be a:

cricket

But how can they be used interchangeably? Is it a mistake? Are there some differences? If so, what are they?


I did find this on zhihu:

蛐蛐和蟋蟀指蟋蟀总科,蝈蝈指螽斯科人们喜欢养的种类

So, no difference between 蛐蛐 and 蟋蟀 then?

Why would 蝈蝈 be confused with 蛐蛐 and 蟋蟀 then?

Also: how does 纺织娘 play in here?

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  • 蛐蛐 is the common name of 蟋蟀
    – xenophōn
    Mar 27, 2018 at 9:23
  • The same thing can have different names in different places. I am from the south part and I always use 蟋蟀 for crickets, though I know the word 蛐蛐.
    – Ziyuan
    Apr 2, 2018 at 22:20

1 Answer 1

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according to wikipedia(and my understanding as a native speaker): 蝈蝈,纺织娘 should be two sub species belong to the family: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tettigoniidae

蛐蛐,蟋蟀 is the same thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket_(insect)

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