📸 PhotoPhoto: Pokopong · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Spindasis takanonis
Spindasis takanonis (Spindasis takanonis · キマダラルリツバメ)
Not Evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List yet.
🇰🇷 Class II endangered wildlife (Korea)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its maximum wingspan of 32 mm is about 1.2 times the diameter of a Korean 500-won coin (26.5 mm) (Comparison).
- 💡 It also flies to chestnut flowers to sip nectar. Because its larvae require a specialized breeding life inside ant nests, it is especially vulnerable to urban development.
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
Spindasis takanonis is the only butterfly in Korea with two tail-like projections on each hindwing. It is designated as Class II endangered wildlife (Korea).
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its wingspan is 26–32 mm; the basal part of the upper wing surface is indigo-blue and purple in males and blackish-brown in females. The area around the hindwing tail projections is orange, and the underside has a milky-white ground color.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It appears once a year from mid-June to July, and females lay eggs on pine trees, Mongolian oaks, needle junipers, or rock crevices where host ant nests are present. Adults feed on nectar from daisy fleabane, clethra loosestrife, and chestnut flowers, and larvae live together with ants.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
It is designated as Class II endangered wildlife (Korea). It is distributed in Yeongwol of Gangwon-do, Gyeonggi-do, Gwangju, Seoul, and parts of Chungcheongbuk-do, and its habitat is being severely damaged by urbanization.
📚 Sources & References
- • 멸종위기 야생생물 Ⅱ급 — 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000034404 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000034404
- • IUCN Red List: not evaluated (NE) — cross-checked with the Wikidata conservation-status entry
- • Korean protection status: Class II endangered wildlife (Korea)
- • catalogueoflife.org — 4Z5BG
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000034404 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000034404
- • wikidata.org — Q5971477
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Spindasis takanonis.jpg
- • nie.re.kr — view.do
- • bok.or.kr — contents.do
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Judy Gallagher · CC BY 4.0 (Related taxon silhouette — Lycaena phlaeas)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.