Rediscovery of an Enigmatic Bark Beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) Endemic to the Hawaiian Islands
Gillett CP, Pulakkatu-Thodi I, Rubinoff D. 2018. Rediscovery of an Enigmatic Bark Beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) Endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The Coleopterists Bulletin. 72(4):811-815
The Hawaiian archipelago is one of the most isolated land masses on the planet. It harbors a fauna containing over 10,000 endemic insect species that is largely the result of the disharmonious and fortuitous arrival of a small number of colonizing ancestral species via long-distance dispersal, followed by subsequent in situ diversification (Zimmerman 1948, 1970; Howarth and Mull 1992; Paulay 1994). Extensive environmental deterioration resulting from modification and urbanization of the landscape and the widespread introduction of non-native adventive and invasive species by human settlers have resulted in high extinction rates across most indigenous taxa. Consequently, Hawaiʻiis often considered the extinction and endangerment capital of the world (Cabin 2013). The islands contain more endangered species per square kilometer than anywhere else on the planet, being home to a quarter of all endangered species in the USA (Messing and Wright 2006). Because insects make up 70% of all endemic animals in Hawaiʻi (Medeiros et al. 2013), their continued survival is a real concern, yet they remain comparatively under-studied. Up-to-date records are a useful contribution to knowledge of the distribution and persistence of rarely recorded taxa and are of value to conservation efforts on the islands.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Gillett, Conrad; Pulakkatu-Thodi, Ishakh; Rubinoff, Daniel
- Units
- HAVO
- Keywords
- bark beetle, endemic species, Hawaii Island, Hawaiian Islands, xyleborine ambrosia beetles, Xyleborus