Larval stages of Callipogon relictus (Semenov) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), a gigantic longhorn beetle designated as a natural monument of Korea, has never been studied as it is hardly discovered in nature. The DNA barcoding gene, mt-COI, was used to identify a dead larva found in the Gwangneung forest of the Korea National Arboretum. Based on the result, we provide the morphology of the immature stage, with the illustrations of diagnostic characteristics.

The family Limacodidae, which is generally known with a Korean common name, ‘Sswaegi’, belongs to the superfamily Zygaenoidea. Most species have strong hair-like bristles, which causes painful skin irritation on outer surface of larval stages. Members of the family are small to medium sized moths and can be defined with the combination of the following characteristics: larvae without crochets, adults with R3, R4 and R5 veins of the forewing stalked and papillae anales disk-shaped. The family contains approximately 1,000 species of 400 genera from the world and a number of species recorded from the tropical regions. In Korea, seven species were studied by Fixen (1887) for the first time. Since then, some fragmentary reports and taxonomic studies were made by several lepidopterists. Although there are 25 species of 19 genera known from Korea, comprehensive study for Korean limacodids has not carried out up to date. As the preliminary step for a revisional study on Korean species of the family, a literature review has been done, and some corrections were made on incorrect scientific names in ‘Checklist of Korean insects (2010)’, which was most recently published.