蜗

Left insect radical - originally a pictograph of a coiled snake, later extended to cover all small crawling creatures including bugs, worms, and snails. It anchors 蜗 in the buggy-creature family alongside 蛇 snake, 蚂 ant, 蝴 butterfly. A snail counts as 虫 by virtue of being slow, soft, and shell-bearing.

Right side is 呙, simplified from 咼 ('crooked, twisted mouth'), supplying the sound - guō drifting to wō. Same phonetic powers 锅 pot, 涡 whirlpool, 窝 nest, 祸 disaster. The twisted, curling shape of 呙 also faintly mirrors the spiraling whorl of a snail's shell, a happy coincidence for the learner.