Where does “亀虫” come from?

亀虫 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 亀, from Middle Chinese 龜.

亀虫 (Japanese): shield bug, stink bug; pentatomid (Pentatomidae)

Definitions

  1. shield bug, stink bug; pentatomid (Pentatomidae)

Ancestry of “亀虫”, step by step

亀虫 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanesea tortoise or turtle; a drunkard; a 家紋 with...
2Middle Chinese

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanesea bug, insect, worm; a serpent, snake; a worm
Every word from Middle Chinese Every word from Japanese