{"id":946859,"date":"2026-07-20T05:52:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T05:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/946859\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T05:52:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T05:52:23","slug":"discovery-of-2-hawaiian-insects-unexpected-and-encouraging-offer-hope-for-rare-species-big-island-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/946859\/","title":{"rendered":"Discovery of 2 Hawaiian insects \u2018unexpected and encouraging,\u2019 offer hope for rare species : Big Island Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New populations of two species of endangered native Hawaiian moth and damselfly were discovered on islands where they previously were thought to no longer exist.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/DLNR_Hawaii_Invertebrate_Prog_Staff_Conducting_Field_Surveys_for_Megalagrion_Oahu_802KB-1024x652.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-97667\"\/>Staff members of Hawai\u02bbi Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife Invertebrate Program conduct a field survey on O\u02bbahu in search of the pinapinao, or Hawaiian damselfly (Megalagrion nesiotes). (Courtesy Photo: Hawai\u02bbi Department of Land and Natural Resources)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The discovery of by staff members of Hawai\u2018i Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife of the Blackburn\u2019s moth (Manduca blackburni) and pinapinao, or Hawaiian damselfly (Megalagrion nesiotes), bring hope for continued existence and recovery of these endangered species.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHawai\u02bbi\u2019s native insect populations are largely declining because of predation, competition with non-native species and habitat loss,\u201d said Division of Forestry and Wildlife entomologist Janis Matsunaga in a state release. \u201cPopulations of these insects often quietly blink out, island-by-island, until they become extinct. Rediscovery of these species is unexpected and encouraging.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dlnr.hawaii.gov\/ecosystems\/hip\/species\/blackburns-sphinx-moth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Endangered Blackburn\u2019s sphinx moth<\/a>:<\/strong> Rediscovered on L\u0101na\u201bi and Moloka\u201bi<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Blackburn\u2019s sphinx moth, one of Hawai\u2018i\u2019s largest native insects, was once found throughout all main Hawaiian Islands.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was thought to be extinct by the late 1970s but was rediscovered in 1984 on East Maui. Since then, additional populations have been found on Kaho\u02bbolawe and Hawai\u2018i Island.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The moth was thought to be extirpated, or locally extinct, on other islands.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Division of Forestry and Wildlife staff members with the Hawai\u02bbi Invertebrate Program in May, however, discovered 10 Blackburn\u2019s sphinx moth caterpillars in L\u0101na\u02bbi City.T<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">his was the third sighting since 2009, when 22 caterpillars were discovered, and a single caterpillar found in 2025, possibly indicating a sustained population.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Staff also in May and June discovered Blackburn\u2019s sphinx moth caterpillars in H\u0101lawa Valley and Kalaupapa, Moloka\u02bbi. These are the first individuals confirmed on that island since it was thought to be extirpated in the 1940s from the island.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dlnr.hawaii.gov\/ecosystems\/hip\/species\/pinapinao\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Endangered pinapinao (Hawaiian damselfly)<\/a><\/strong>: Rediscovered on Hawai\u2018i Island after 102 years<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Division of Forestry and Wildlife employee captured and photographed a male Hawaiian damselfly in October 2025 during routine training in Wai\u0101kea Forest Reserve on the Big Island. It was the first confirmed Hawai\u2018i Island sighting of the species since 1923.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Pinapinao_Hawaiian_damselfly_Megalagrion_nesiotes_Dan_Polhemus_112KB-1024x902.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-97671\"\/>A pinapinao, or Hawaiian damselfly (Megalagrion nesiotes). (Courtesy Photo: Dan Polhemus\/Hawai\u02bbi Department of Land and Natural Resources)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI would have never guessed that we would find a critically endangered species in a eucalyptus plantation, a habitat previously thought unsuitable for the species,\u201d said Division of Forestry and Wildlife staff member Brendan Wang in the state release. It was he who discovered the pinapinao. \u201cSince there are native plants in the understory, these damselflies have been able to persist.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New sightings of native invertebrates can be reported to a <a href=\"https:\/\/dlnr.hawaii.gov\/dofaw\/contact\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Division of Forestry and Wildlife office<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe encourage everyone to learn about native invertebrates and to report sightings of rare species to aid in conservation management,\u201d Wang said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New populations of two species of endangered native Hawaiian moth and damselfly were discovered on islands where they&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":946860,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[23],"tags":[18844,381217,4788,9562,746,381218,381219,381220,159,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-946859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-biodiversity","tag-blackburns-moth","tag-conservation","tag-endangered-species","tag-environment","tag-hawaii-department-of-land-and-natural-resources","tag-hawaiian-damselfly","tag-hawaiian-insects","tag-science","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116950751572876320","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=946859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/946860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=946859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=946859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=946859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}