Usually when the winds are strong you find these little guys on the windward side of Oahu hopping around in the sand, and I’ve always wanted to get some images of them, so I thought I would give it it a try.  I also wanted to test out the macro abilities of my new camera.  I recently bought a Canon Powershot SX30 IS – it wasn’t my first choice, but I couldn’t really justify getting a decent SLR and macro lens worth more than our minivan, so I had to make some compromises. I think it will work out OK for my purposes, and with a few accessories I should be able to get some decent insect macro shots.  Having said that, it is still painfully obvious that the Canon 30D and 100 mm macro lens that I had access to at work were much better.

I did manage to find a few stranded striders hiding out in depressions in the sand. I’m not sure if these are H. hawaiiensis or H. sericeus.  From what I’ve read, H. hawaiiensis is a near shore/coastal species and H. sericeus is an open ocean species, so I’m guessing that maybe these are H. sericeus that have been blown in with the trades, but that is only a guess (Biological Notes on the Pelagic Water Striders (Halobates) of the Hawaiian Islands, with Description of a New Species from Waikiki (Gerridae, Hemiptera), Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomolgoical Society, 1938, Robert L. Usinger, 10:77-88). 

Earlier this year we conducted surveys for federally listed endangered Hawaiian Drosophila on land up in Kokee (Kauai) that the Navy manages.  The sites are situated right against the critical habitat boundary, so we basically conduct our surveys along the fenclines and permiter of the property lines (this is the second year we have done these surveys).  The last site in this area consists of a NASA facility with a giant antenna (access is prohibited, so there is a locked gate preventing unauthorized personnel from driving up to it).  The big dish is pretty impressive, but I was more interested in the remnants of the previous antenna system that sit behind the current facility.  There are some old footings and a small rusting blue structure labelled “Satan Antenna System”, complete with pitchfork logo.  Evidently this stands for Satellite Automatic Tracking Antenna, and it dates back to the ’60s.  While at the site, the remote feeling created by the combination of being in the middle of the forest and having an expansive view of the Pacific Ocean, together with standing in the shadow of a giant satellite dish that seemed to randomly come to life every 30 minutes and orient itself towards some unknown celestial target, tended to prompt the imagination to create images of what might be inside the little locked blue building…perhaps a long staircase into the darkness? Ernest Borgnine in a hooded robe?

Location of the NASA site.

NASA Kokee Antenna.

SATAN building.

SATAN building.

SATAN building.

So anyway, last week we took the metal detector out to Lanikai to hunt for some treasures.  It was a lot of fun, the kids found an old key, some kind of luggage tag thing, some bottle caps, and some other random metal objects; however, for me, the greatest treasure was found on the beach access path as we were walking back to the van – a pacific cockroach!  In all my time in Hawaii, I have only seen this lovely roach, Euthyrrhapha pacifica (Couebert, 1804), on one other occasion (Barbers Point), so it was a real treat.  Even though I was wrangling my sandy three-year-old at the time I spied it, I was still able to scoop it up from amongst some beach naupaka (Scaevola sericea) leaves, and put it in a plastic sandwich bag.  The next day at work I snapped some photos of it during my lunch break before releasing back into the landscape.

Collection site of Euthyrrhapha pacifica: Lanikai, 26 Dec

Pacific cockroach, Euthyrrhapha pacifica

Pacific cockroach, Euthyrrhapha pacifica

Pacific cockroach, Euthyrrhapha pacifica

Despite its designation as the Pacific cockroach, Euthyrrhapha pacifica is considered an immigrant to Hawaii.  According to Zimmerman (1948), it was first recorded from Hawaii by Bormans in 1882.  It is supposedly common on many of the pacific islands and throughout the tropics (Fullaway and Krauss 1945, Zimmerman 1948).  The Catalogue of the specimens of Blattaria in the collection of the British Museum lists Brazil, Madagascar, and Polynesia as its distribution (Walker and Gray 1868).

I found very little information on this roach within the references that were immediately available to me at work and on the internet.  The most descriptive account that I found was in ”Common Insects of Hawawii”  (Fullaway and Kraus 1945):  “Euthyrrhapha pacifica (Coq.) Familiy BLATTIDAE. This pretty little insect is probably the most attractive member of the roach family in Hawaii.  The two distinctive orange spots on the wing cases make this species easily recognizable.  It is of wide distribution in the tropics and occurs on many of the Pacific islands.  Found both indoors and out, it breeds in neglected cupboards, rubbish in houses and beneath dead leaves and debris.  The young nymphs emerge from the egg capsule through a hole which they gnaw out.  They are rather dull in appearance in contrast to the adults.  The roaches are active both during the day and at night and may be seen running about in an erratic manner.”  Zimmerman (1948) adds that “it is not infrequently confused with the beetles by laymen.”

I was able to track down a couple of references in the Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society.  In Volume 2, number 4 of the Proceedings (1912) it is written that “Mr. Terry exhibited a specimen of the small roach, Euthyrrhapha pacifica, and one of its egg capsules from which the young had emerged.  He called special attention to the fact that instead of emerging in the usual way for roaches the young of this species gnaw a hole through the capsule resembling that made by parasites, for which it might be mistaken.  Later, in Volume 12, Krauss (1945) reports the first record E. pacifica on the island of Hawaii. 

There are a few random internet references. On the “Ask a Bishop Museum Scientist” site David Preston identifies a Pacific cockroach for a someone and provides some info. You can find a really good of photo of E. pacifica here on Flickr.  And finally, a Facebooker humorously thinks E. pacifica is named after Steven Colbert , rather than French entomologist Jean Antoine Coquebert being the author.

REFERENCES

Fullaway, D. T. and N. L. H. Krauss. 1945.  Common Insects of Hawaii.  Tongg Publishing Company, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Kruass, H. L. H.  1945.  Proc. Haw. Ent. Soc. 12(2):309.

Terry, F. W. 1912.  Proc. Haw. Ent. Soc. 2(4):145.

Walker, F. and J. E. Gray.  1868.  Catalogue of the Specimens of Blattaria in the Collection of the British Museum.  Printed for the Trustees of the British Museum, London.

Zimmerman, E. C.  1948.  Insects of Hawaii (Vol. 2).  University of Hawaii Press, Hononlulu.

  

Some backround:

I found a cluster (maybe about 50 or so) of dark pink (salmon or maybe coral colored?) eggs on an Acacia koa  leaf – not technically a leaf (petiole? phyllode?), I know,  but for lack of a better term that is what I am calling it.  I was actually hoping they were koa bug eggs, but when I showed them to Steve he immediately recognized them as Lepidoptera eggs (too small for Coleotichus blackburniae).  He suggested I collect the eggs, take them back to Oahu, and try to rear to the adult form.   This is what I have been doing for the last month.  The eggs hatched on March 30th or possibly the night of the 29th.  I’ve reared them on Formosa koa the whole time up until today. They seemed to prefer eating the flowers and not the leaves.  I tried to take photos every 5 to 10 days – once again I struggled to get decent pics, but I guess they came out OK.  This morning I noticed that there were about 5 or 6 caterpillars lying motionless under the paper towel on the bottom of the cage, and when I checked again at noon, two had turned into pupae.  Another 5 or 6 were lying on top of the paper towels as well.  I’m a little bummed out because I leave for Okinawa on Saturday for three weeks, and I’m afraid the adults will not emerge (eclose?) before I leave.  I’m probably going to have to leave the pupae with a coworker or something.

Here are the pics (unfortunately I never took a photo of the eggs) – if anyone out there knows the species I would greatly appreciate your input!

Here are the images:

Front                                                         Back

This store is a work in progress – I have some more ideas, but not enough time.  So while it might be a little lame now, I hope to improve it over time.

As I was watching, it came upon a Cixiid (Oliarus).  I thought for a second, when it reared up (see photo above), that  I was going to witness firsthand the effects of an invasive predator on a hapless native plant feeder, but unfortunately nothing happened.  The assassin bug apparently didn’t have a hit out on the Cixiid, because it then showed no interest in it.  Shortly thereafter the Cixiid took flight – probably a smart move.

From Volume 3 of Zimmerman’s “Insects of Hawaii” (which, by the way, is now online at http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/1768 ) we read that there are 3 subfamilies of reduvids in Hawaii: Ploiariinae, Triatominae, and Harpactorinae.  I think there are two native genera in the Ploinaiinae, but the other two subfamilies are completely non-native.  There is a good chance this info is not quite up to date, since it is from the ’50s, so I wouldn’t take this as verified truth.

My little assassin bug, Zelus renardii, is in Harpactorinae.  Evidently it has quite a reputation as a predator of leafhoppers, and over the years has earned the name of “The Leafhopper Assassin Bug.”  First found in Hawaii by Perkins in 1897, it is believed to be an immigrant from Western North America.

And here is some interesting info from Dan Polhemus and Adam Asquith’s book “Hawaiian Damselflies: A Field Identification Guide” (Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, 1996). 

“Distribution: Originally distributed from Maine to Chile.  Introduced to the Hawaiian Islands around 1973, and now known from Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui, and Hawaii.  Commonly found along the margins of coastal wetlands, and around ponds at elevations up to 500 ft, but not generally a mountain species.”

“On the North American mainland two distinct female color forms are present, the orange form and a bright green form similar to the male.  The latter color form was previously recorded from Hawaii (Hilton 1989), but has not been seen during the last decade, and may have died out in the islands.”

I found this little flatid back in April (30 April 2009) when we were inpsecting a Mehamehame tree, or Flueggea neowawraea, in Lualualei Valley.  I was thinking it could be native, but I later learned there are no species of Flatidae native to Hawaii.  This particular species is Melormenis basalis, the West Indian Flatid.  Not sure how long it has been in Hawaii, but it wasn’t mentioned in “Insects of Hawaii” so it must have arrived sometime after that particular volume was written.  The other species of flatid in Hawaii is Siphanta acuta, the Green Torpedo Flatid or Torpedo Bug.  It is mentioned in “Insects of Hawaii” and arrived sometime before 1898.  These are evidently the only two species of Flatidae known to occur in Hawaii.

I took a few pics before releasing it:

It seems pretty clear that the flies in the shower are breeding in the drain area.  There was a long drain that spanned the length of the shower and was harboring a lot of scum.  I was a little surprised though at how tiny the psychodids were – I am more used to seeing the larger blackish gray species.  These were very tiny.  One of the pictures below (sorry about the poor quality – I used my point-and-shoot through the miscroscope lens) was taken on a dime, just above the date, for scale.  This should be a pretty easy fix.  We’ll put together some options for them on what they can use to clean the drain and prevent the flies from breeding there.

The phorids may be a different story. Below is a picture of a fly tape they had hanging in an office area – as you can see, it was covered with the flies.  There were two separate buildings on the compound, and they both are having problems with the phorids.  This leads me to believe that there may be an outside area where they’re breeding.  There was a recent mangrove removal project on Pearl City peninsula in which they basically mulched the mangrove into large piles on the shore line.  The mangrove mulch is not far from this particular compound, so I am curious if this is the source of the phorids.  We need to go back and check this out.