As summer approaches in China, the annual frustration against incessant mosquitoes and other bugs now out in force is just beginning. But in ancient Chinese literature and poems, insects played all manner of roles, form slanderous mosquitoes to sly flies to self-destructive moths. Many sayings and stories involving insects became four-character chengyu (成語, chéng yǔ), some still in use today to describe, for example, veteran artists and inexperienced workers. Here are some useful chengyu involving insects, and the stories behind them:

招蜂引蝶 zhāo fēng yǐn dié
Attract bees and butterflies

This is a modern day chengyu that originated from a passage in writer Ye Wenling's 1983 novel A Unique Song (葉文玲的《獨(dú)特的歌》yè wén líng de dú tè de gē). Ye's book took aim at overly flirtatious women and those who dressed to attract the attention from the opposite sex. The phrase is often used to criticize those who behave coquettishly, especially those who are already in a relationship but still appear to flirt with others (賣弄俊俏，四送秋波的人 mài nòng jùn qiào , sì sòng qiū bō de rén).

來源：The World of Chinese
編輯：萬月英