- · Grid units represent actual meters (m); human and animals are drawn to the exact same scale with original silhouette aspect ratios preserved.
- · When a size range is recorded (e.g. 1–1.6m), the lower bound is used for scale comparison.
- · Korean bumble bee silhouette: PhyloPic — Arnstein Staverløkk/Norsk institutt for naturforskning · CC BY 4.0 (Bombus wurflenii)
- · Human silhouette: PhyloPic — NASA · Public Domain Mark 1.0
Korean bumble bee
Bombus koreanus (Korean bumble bee · Korean bumble bee)
Not Evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List yet.
🇰🇷 Class II endangered wildlife (Korea)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 It also feeds on nectar from food crop flowers such as sesame and pumpkin, helping with pollination.
- 💡 Its maximum body length of 21 mm is slightly smaller than the diameter of a 100-won coin (24 mm).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The Korean bumble bee (Bombus koreanus) is the largest bumble bee species in Korea, feeding on floral nectar with its long proboscis. It is a Class II Endangered Wildlife species in Korea.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Body length is 10 to 21 mm; the thorax is covered with black hair, and except for pale hairs near the tip of the abdomen, the body is mostly black. The long hairs at the rear of the 4th, 5th, and 6th abdominal segments are pale yellow.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
Active from early April to June, it feeds on nectar from deep flowers such as rose of Sharon, Korean rhododendron, and royal azalea, as well as sesame, pumpkin, and milkvetch flowers. Because it visits a wide variety of flowers, it has high potential for use in pollination.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
It is a Class II Endangered Wildlife species in Korea. It formerly lived widely across the country including Jeju Island, but has declined due to climate change and now occurs only locally in Gangwon, Chungbuk, Gyeongnam, Gyeongbuk, and Jeonbuk provinces.
📚 Sources & References
- • 멸종위기 야생생물 Ⅱ급 — 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000027403 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000027403
- • IUCN Red List: not evaluated (NE) — cross-checked with the Wikidata conservation-status entry
- • Korean protection status: Class II endangered wildlife (Korea)
- • catalogueoflife.org — MFMB
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000027403 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000027403
- • wikidata.org — Q10740577
- • nie.re.kr — view.do
- • bok.or.kr — contents.do
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Arnstein Staverløkk/Norsk institutt for naturforskning · CC BY 4.0 (Congeneric silhouette — Bombus wurflenii)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.