並瓢虫

Compound of 並(なみ) (nami, “average, ordinary”) + 天道(てんとう) (tentō, literally, “celestial path”, but here referring to 天道虫 (tentō mushi, “ladybird, ladybug”); the 瓢虫 spelling is an alternative for tentō mushi).^[1][2]

The use 瓢虫 for the tentō portion is an example of jukujikun (熟字訓), borrowed from Chinese.

• (Tokyo) なみてんとー [nàmí téꜜǹtòò] (Nakadaka – [3])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [na̠mʲi tẽ̞nto̞ː]

並(なみ)瓢虫(てんとう) or 並瓢虫(ナミテントウ) • (nami tentō) ^{←なみてんたう (namitentau)?}

1. harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis)

• As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as ナミテントウ (namitentō).
• Sometimes called as simply 天道虫 (tentō mushi).^[1]