Articles tagged with: Non-bird Animals
Happy-Face Spider
Posted: Jun 6, 2008
Hawaiian Name:Nananana Makaki'iScientific Name: Theridion grallator
This spider is normally shy and retiring. It lives on the undersides of leaves in rainforests, mainly on the Big Island. It hunts primarily at night and feeds on small insects that it encounters. The "happy face" pattern is...
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Small Indian Mongoose
Posted: Jul 7, 2008
Scientific Name: Herpestes 'auropunctatusHistory: Introduced in 1883 from Jamaica (originally from India), to control rat populations in the sugar cane fields. However, because the mongoose is diurnal and the rat primarily nocturnal, they were not an effective bio-control.
Distribution &...
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Feral Pig
Posted: Aug 8, 2008
Hawaiian Name: Pua'aScientific Name:Sus scrofa
History: A descendant of the small Asiatic domestic pigs introduced by Polynesians in the early colonization period (400AD) and the larger European domestic pigs first introduced by Captain James Cook in 1778.
Distribution/Habitat/Diet: Found on...
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Kamehameha Butterfly
Posted: Nov 11, 2008
Scientific Name: Vanessa tameameaDistribution: Endemic to Hawaiian islands, found mainly in upland woodlands. The Kamehameha Butterfly was the first of the Lepidoptera to be described in the Hawaiian Islands and named in the early 1800s for Kamehameha I.
Diet: Adults are sap and nectar feeders...
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Hawaiian Monk Seal
Posted: Dec 12, 2008
Hawaiian Name: Ilio holo ikauauaScientific Name: Monachus schauinslandi
Most Hawaiian Monk Seals live in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, but a small number can be found on the main islands.
Hawaiian Monk Seals live up to 30 years and grow up to 7 feet & 500 pounds. Their diet consists of...
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Carnivorous Catepillar
Posted: Jan 1, 2009
Scientific Name: Eupithecia spp.Family Geometridae (Inchworms), Eupithecia spp.
Found in wet forests and shrublands, 18 known species of Eupithecia in Hawaii are unique from all other members of the genus: unlike their herbivorous brethren, these Hawaii Eupithecia are carnivorous and capture...
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Hawaiian Bat
Posted: Feb 2, 2009
Hawaiian Name: OpeapeaScientific Name: Lasiurus cinereus semotus
The Hawaiian Bat is the only endemic land mammal in Hawaii that is extant (surviving). The Hawaiian Bat has been on the federal list of endangered species since the 1970s.
Population size is difficult to determine for the...
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Feral Goat
Posted: Apr 4, 2009
Scientific Name: Capra hircusHistory: Introduced to Hawaiian Islands in 1778 by Captain James Cook.
Distribution: Sea level to higher elevations on all main islands. Prefer rocky slopes and open lava fields in drier areas.
Ecological Impact: Feral Goats forage on grasses and other vegetation...
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Wekiu Bug
Posted: May 5, 2009
Scientific Name: Nysius wekiuicola Distribution: Summit areas of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa (above 13,000ft) on Hawaii Island. Diet: Straw like mouth parts are used by most seed bugs to pierce and suck out the insides of seeds. But on the barren mountain summits there are no seeds, so the Wekiu Bug...Continue Reading »
Conservation
Posted: Aug 8, 2010
Conservation Pittosporum seeds eaten by rats Along with its world-class showcase of biology, evolution, geology, and astronomy, Hawaii has also gained the regrettable reputation as the endangered species capital of the world. Conservationists consider Hawaii to be at the forefront of the global...Continue Reading »
Stolen Moments
Posted: Aug 8, 2010
Yesterday in the kitchen I snatched a kiss from my wife. At that moment I felt like kissing her. Not wanting to lose the moment, I came up behind her, put my arms around her waist, leaned over and as she turned I kissed her gently. It was a beautiful spontaneous moment between the rice and the...Continue Reading »
The Sex Lives of Flies
Posted: Aug 8, 2010
In 1963 a pre-med undergraduate student at UH Manoa got a summer job washing test tubes. The student was Ken Kaneshiro and the job was for the new Hawaii Drosophila Project. Today, Dr. Ken Kaneshiro is an eminent evolutionary biologist. He built his world-renown scientific reputation by studying...Continue Reading »
Evolution
Posted: Aug 8, 2010
Evolution, Hawaiian Style Lava Dubautia Alpine Dubautia Hawaii is a world-class showcase of evolutionary process. In fact, in many ways it surpasses the examples from the Galapagos Islands. Hawaii’s extreme isolation coupled with its phenomenal array of life zones allowed for the small pool of...Continue Reading »
Chirps and Trills
Posted: Aug 8, 2010
"Maybe I should write about crickets?" I asked. "Is there enough stuff to write an article on crickets?" Cindy responded. In answer I pulled down Daniel Otte's The Crickets of Hawaii, a 400 page tome on the Orthoptera of our fair islands. Filled with dozens of pages of cryptic graphs and close-up...Continue Reading »
Sharing Nature
Posted: Aug 8, 2010
Kids need to be out in nature. They need to climb trees, crawl through the bushes, play in the dirt and mud, chase each other across the field, and explore the wild. Too often today children never experience the wonderful land around them. Too many of our island keiki rarely get the opportunity to...Continue Reading »
You Pest
Posted: Aug 8, 2010
I am the baby of six siblings. Growing up I was often referred to as a pest by my older brothers and sisters. “Mom, he’s such a pest. Do I have to take him along?!” “Quit being such a pest, Robbie.” Never lacking affection, attention or love, this pesty tag never bothered me too much. In fact,...Continue Reading »
Lumpers and Splitters
Posted: Aug 8, 2010
I like to know the names of things. Whether it’s the weed that leaves flat sticky seeds on my socks or the little worms that eat holes through my books, it drives me crazy if I don’t know their names. And though I often settle for the common name, it’s the scientific one that really catches my...Continue Reading »
A Founder Effect
Posted: Aug 8, 2010
Founder effect: Combination of genetic drift and natural selection resulting in a new genetic direction for a small population or individual in a new environment. (Dictionary of Biology, E. Martin 1986) My first lesson in Hawaii was about dirt. Soil development to be more precise. Like many who...Continue Reading »
The View from Poliahu
Posted: Aug 8, 2010
Summit of Mauna Kea Photo by Kirk Aeder The summit of Mauna Kea is a sacred place. Sacred in its stark surreal beauty of cinders, rock, colors, and technology that captures the light of sun and stars. Sacred in its geologic manifestations of fire and ice that portray an ancient conflict. Sacred in...Continue Reading »
Inventory of a Koa
Posted: Aug 8, 2010
Koa TreeIt is a big tree. It rises above the canopy of the kipuka with sculptured grace. Its trunk is as thick as a bus. The branches are larger than most other trees’ trunks. It is a Koa. I visit the tree often, with hundreds of visits over the years. Only after a dozen visits did I see how...
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