| Kamehameha butterfly | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Vanessa |
| Species: | V. tameamea
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| Binomial name | |
| Vanessa tameamea (Eschscholtz, 1821)
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The Kamehameha butterfly (Vanessa tameamea) is one of the two species of butterfly endemic to Hawaii, the other is Udara blackburni.[1] The Hawaiian name is pulelehua. This is today a catch-all native term for all butterflies; its origin seems to be pulelo "to float" or "to undulate in the air" + lehua, "reddish", or "rainbow colored", probably due to the predominant color of the Metrosideros polymorpha flower: an animal that floats through the air, from one lehua to another. Alternatively, it is called lepelepe-o-Hina – roughly, "Hina's fringewing" – which is today also used for the introduced monarch butterfly.
The Kamehameha butterfly was named the state insect of Hawaii in 2009, due to the work of a group of fifth-graders from Pearl Ridge Elementary.[2] These 5th graders (Robyn-Ashley Amano, Ryan Asuka, Kristi Kimura, Jennifer Loui, Toshiro Yanai and Jenna Yanke) proposed the butterfly as the state insect to various legislators as a project for Gifted and Talented.
YouTube Encyclopedic
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1/2Views:1 211874
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Researchers need help saving the Kamehameha butterfly
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The eclosion event of a Leopard butterfly
Transcription
>> Narrator Alexandra Roth, UH Manoa student: This is the Kamehameha butterfly, the state insect of Hawaii. One of two butterflies native to the state, it’s a little smaller than a monarch butterfly. >> Will Haines,UH Manoa researcher: They’re basically an orange, a kind of deep orange, sometimes almost a rosy, a pinkish hue and they have these white spots on them. They’re really quite beautiful butterflies. >> Narrator: In all stages of its life. >> Haines: The older caterpillars are bright green. They have these spines all over them. Their heads have these, almost like horns. Even the eggs, they are almost like these little jewels on the leaf. >> Narrator: But unfortunately, the Kamehameha butterfly may be in serious trouble. >> Dan Rubinoff, UH Mānoa entomology professor: We found that this is a butterfly that used to be much more widespread than it seems to be now. And rather than wait till it is almost gone, or in fact gone, we wanted to address this issue head on and try and figure out what the status of the butterfly is while we can still find it in some places. >> Narrator: Researchers from the University of Hawaii at Manoa are asking the public to help the state insect and take part in the Pulelehua Project. Pulelehua is Hawaiian for butterfly. >> Rubinoff: There are just a few of us who are trying to cover the entire state and that’s impossible, so we really need the public to get an accurate assessment of the Kamehameha butterfly. >> Haines: We are basically asking the public to go out there and if they do see, either caterpillars or eggs or butterflies, just snap a picture with your smart phone and submit to our website. >> Narrator: The best place to find the Kamehameha is on or near the mamaki plant, or Hawaiian nettle, and its caterpillars can be found feasting on the leaves. Mamaki is common where native plants still flourish in remote areas like high elevation forests or the very back of deep valleys. The butterflies and caterpillars should not be collected, since they are protected as native wildlife. A photo is all that’s needed to document them. >> Haines: We need help from hikers and the conservation community, anybody that’s out there, in these areas, where the butterflies are found.” >> Rubinoff: So just snap a shot, and we will tell you what you found, but everybody on every island can contribute to this preservation effort.” >> Narrator: The information will help researchers develop a strategy to protect and increase the Kamehameha butterfly population. The Pulelehua Project is funded by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Forestry and Wildlife and spearheaded by researchers from the Department of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, which is fitting when you consider that a large ceramic mural of the Kamehameha butterfly is featured on the front of the college’s home on UH Manoa campus, Gilmore Hall. The photos and locations of the Kamehameha butterfly can be submitted to www.KamehamehaButterfly.com.
Description
Vanessa tameamea is a medium-sized Nymphalid, featuring dark colouration with reddish orange markings. Unusual in the genus is the presence of sexual dimorphism, via a series of three small spots on the anterior forewing. These spots are typically white in females, and orange in males. Visually, this species appears intermediate between the ladies and admirals. The closest morphological relatives are Vanessa indica, and V. samani.[3]
The caterpillars feed on the leaves of plants in the family Urticaceae,[4] especially those of māmaki (Pipturus albidus)[5] but also ōpuhe (Urera spp.), ʻākōlea (Boehmeria grandis), olonā (Touchardia latifolia), and maʻoloa (Neraudia spp.).[4] Adults eat the sap of koa (Acacia koa) trees.[6]
Behavior
Vanessa tameamea typically occurs in the mid to upper canopy during flights, particularly in hotter periods of the day. It may descend to the lower canopy to bask in sun, or rarely to visit nectar sources such as Rubus. Basking individuals perch on the upper surface of exposed, sunlit leaves of shrubs and trees. When dappled light or gaps in the canopy allow, partial basking may also occur during cryptic camouflage behavior, where adults rest on the bark of trees facing downwards. Short-term hibernation has been reported, taking place in tight furrows in bark, or on the underside of Acacia koa limbs.[7] These behaviors are shared among other related species elsewhere in the world, such as the red admirals, and particularly the New Zealand red admiral. Adult Kamehameha butterflies are seen throughout all months of the year, but generally peak in spring months.
Distribution
The Kamehameha butterfly occurs on all four of the major Hawaiian Islands: Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, Maui, and the Big Island, as well as on Lānaʻi. However, it is now absent from much of its former range due to decline of native forest habitat, necessary indigenous host plants, and widespread predation from non-native species. Conservation efforts such as the Hawai’i Invertebrate Program (HIP), and local projects operated by the Division of Forestry and Wildlife, continue to rear and attempt to maintain wild populations of this butterfly on O'ahu and the Big Island.[8] Today, most sightings occur in high elevation damp forest, such as that within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, Mokulēia Forest Reserve, and Waimea Canyon State Park.[9]
Taxonomy
It is named after the royal House of Kamehameha; the last king of this lineage, Kamehameha V, died in 1872. The common name is taken from the specific name, tameamea, an old-fashioned and partially wrong transcription of "Kamehameha". The Hawaiian language has no strict distinction between the voiceless alveolar plosive and voiceless velar plosive; use varies from island to island, but today, "k" is used as the standard transliteration. The voiceless glottal transition "h" is distinct and should always be pronounced - for example, "aloha" is correct whereas "aloa" is a wrong pronunciation. Thus, while "Tamehameha" would be a legitimate transcription (though considered old-fashioned on most islands), "Tameamea" is not.
References
- ^ Oboyski, Peter T. "Kamehameha Butterfly (Vanessa tameamea)". University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 2009-11-27.
- ^ Cooper, Jeanne (2009-08-21). "Emblems of Hawaii a surprise to many Americans". San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ Otaki, Joji (2006). Color-Pattern Modifications and Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis of Vanessa Butterflies. Science Journal of Kanagawa University.
- ^ a b Scott, James A. (1992). The Butterflies of North America: A Natural History and Field Guide. Stanford University Press. p. 281. ISBN 978-0-8047-2013-7.
- ^ Little Jr., Elbert L.; Roger G. Skolmen (1989). "Mamaki" (PDF). Common Forest Trees of Hawaii (Native and Introduced). United States Forest Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-09-18. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- ^ Scott, Susan (1991). Plants and Animals of Hawaii. Bess Press. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-935848-93-9.
- ^ Notes and Exhibitions (PDF). Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society Vol. IV, No. 3. 1920. p. 453.
- ^ "Hungry, Hungry Hawaiian Caterpillar: Program Aims to Restore the Endemic Kamehameha Butterfly". Ent. Society of NA. 2020. Retrieved 2023-01-04.
- ^ "Observations of Kamehameha Butterfly on iNaturalist". 2023. Retrieved 2023-01-04.
External links
Media related to Vanessa tameamea at Wikimedia Commons
- "50. Kamehameha Butterfly". Hawaii Biological Survey’s Good Guys & Bad Guys. Bernice P. Bishop Museum.
- "Hawaii's Butterflies". University of Hawaiʻi Insect Museum. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Archived from the original on 2009-09-18.
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This page was last edited on 4 March 2024, at 20:52