Left-side insect radical - pictograph of a curled-up creature with a hooded head. Anchors
蝎 in the bug family alongside
蜘 spider,
蚂 ant,
蜂 bee,
蛇 snake. A scorpion is venomous arthropod kin to spiders, so the radical does its job indexing the creature without needing to discriminate further.
