- · 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.
- · Nannophya koreana silhouette: PhyloPic — Christoph Schomburg · CC0 1.0 (Libellulidae)
- · Human silhouette: PhyloPic — NASA · Public Domain Mark 1.0
Nannophya koreana
Nannophya koreana (Nannophya koreana · Nannophya koreana)
Not Evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List yet.
🇰🇷 Class II endangered wildlife (Korea)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 A body length of 15–17 mm is slightly more than half the diameter of a Korean 500-won coin (26.5 mm) (Comparison).
- 💡 The National Institute of Ecology explains that when uncultivated rice paddies dry up and turn into grasslands, this dragonfly disappears. Unassuming fallow paddies are this dragonfly's home.
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
Nannophya koreana is a tiny dragonfly in the family Libellulidae that is endemic to Korea. Seen in mountain wetlands and fallow rice paddies, it is a Class II endangered wildlife species in Korea.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its body length is about 15–17 mm. Males have a red body, while females are a mix of brown and yellow.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
Larvae live in shallow mountain wetlands fed by spring water, overwinter as final-instar larvae, and produce 1 generation a year. Adults appear from June to August, and females lay eggs while flying low and skimming the water.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
Endemic to Korea, it is mainly found in forest wetlands and fallow rice paddies in central and southern regions and is a Class II endangered wildlife species (Korea). Its numbers are rapidly declining as spring-fed mountain wetlands shrink and fallow paddies dry up.
📚 Sources & References
- • 멸종위기 야생생물 Ⅱ급 — 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000236048 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000236048
- • IUCN Red List: not evaluated (NE) — cross-checked with the Wikidata conservation-status entry
- • Korean protection status: Class II endangered wildlife (Korea)
- • catalogueoflife.org — 9X3NQ
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000236048 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000236048
- • wikidata.org — Q129935236
- • nie.re.kr — view.do
- • ncbi.nlm.nih.gov — PMC9219932
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Christoph Schomburg · CC0 1.0 (Related taxon silhouette — Libellulidae)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.