Named for its glossy "oiled" dark-brown body and its rounded, gourd-like (葫芦) abdomen. Classical literati kept it alongside the smaller 蟋蟀 (shuài/qū) in painted clay jars for its fuller-pitched song.
culture
油葫芦 is also the name of a qupai (曲牌) - a fixed tune pattern in northern kunqu and zaju opera, part of the 仙吕宫 mode.
