- · 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.
- · Macromia daimoji silhouette: PhyloPic — Lisa Nicvert · CC0 1.0 (Macromia splendens)
- · Human silhouette: PhyloPic — NASA · Public Domain Mark 1.0
Macromia daimoji
Macromia daimoji (Macromia daimoji · Macromia daimoji)
🇰🇷 Class II endangered wildlife (Korea)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 A total body length of 70–77 mm reaches about 90% of the width of a credit card (85.6 mm) (Comparison).
- 💡 Dredging sand from riverbeds is thought to destroy the homes of this dragonfly's larvae, showing how river construction can be tied to the fate of an insect species.
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
Macromia daimoji is a large dragonfly in the family Macromiidae with yellow stripes on a metallic dark blue-green body. It lives in the middle reaches of rivers and is assessed as Least Concern (LC, 2020) by the IUCN, but is a Class II endangered wildlife species in Korea.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its total body length is 70–77 mm, hindwing length is 45–50 mm, abdomen length is 55–60 mm, and its compound eyes are bluish indigo. It resembles Jansan-jamjari (a Korean dragonfly name), but differs in that the round yellow marking on the 3rd abdominal segment is broken in the middle.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
Both larvae and adults prey on small insects, and mating takes place while perched on tall trees. Females lay eggs by skimming the water, and larvae hide in the sand of wide rivers, overwintering as larvae and taking 2 years per generation.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
It has a restricted distribution in only a few areas of Korea such as Yeoncheon-gun in Gyeonggi-do, Gyeongsangnam-do, and Gyeongsangbuk-do, and is a Class II endangered wildlife species (Korea). Sand extraction in rivers where the larvae live and habitat changes are presumed to be threats.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2020) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/167174/1172156
- • 멸종위기 야생생물 Ⅱ급 — 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000037438 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000037438
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • Korean protection status: Class II endangered wildlife (Korea)
- • catalogueoflife.org — 3X67W
- • iucnredlist.org — 1172156
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000037438 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000037438
- • wikidata.org — Q3510851
- • nie.re.kr — view.do
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Lisa Nicvert · CC0 1.0 (Congeneric silhouette — Macromia splendens)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.