It all started at one of those super-fun meetings about contracts.  We were going over the different kinds of natural resources work that an installation could possibly require - stuff like bird surveys, small mammal surveys, plant surveys, etc. -  and I suggested that we shouldn’t forget about surveys for apocalyptic megafauna (This seemed particularly important since the contracts in question included work done for installations in Japan.).  So, whatever, it was good for a few laughs.  

Actually this is a term that came to me once as I was thinking about how, as an entomologist, I sometimes have a chip on my shoulder when it comes to charismatic megafauna and all the various “ologists” that study them.  Since, by definition, I don’t think the charismatic megafauna include any current species of insects, there should be a classification for the mega-insects that will usher in the end of civilization as we know it and rule the planet – beasts from godzilla movies such as Mothra and Megaguirus. (I guess there could also be a separate group of  mega-arthropods, such as the giant scorpions in “Damnation Alley”, which have become gigantean from atomic radiation and roam about, terrorizing the nuclear wasteland – these would actually be post-apocalyptic megafauna, but that term doesn’t really have the same ring to it.) 

The funniest part is that the term made its way into a few Powerpoint briefings, and then became somewhat of running joke around the office.  We even made t-shirt about it (you can find it here).  Here’s an example of just how far it has evolved – the following email string began in response to an unusual comment that was found in a bat recovery plan.

(Coworker A)

Evidence that the world is not completely bird centric :

“Typically, observations of vertebrates flying between islands over tens of miles of open ocean are extremely rare.”

(Coworker B)

Sheesh! Maybe they don’t count the class Reptilia.

(Coworker C)

I’d strongly disagree!

I’d suggest the dude check the latest airline schedules!!

(Me)

That’s because birds are pseudo-vertebrates (phylum pseudovertebrata).

(Coworker B)

 So if somebody is spineless, they could be called “bird backed”? (as opposed to “bird brained” – in some cases this would mean they have an enlarged hippocampus).

 (Coworker A)

 Attached shows at least one bird out there with a backbone! (Thought you’d appreciate some avian apocalyptic megafauna…)

(Coworker B)

Quick! What’s the species??!! Is it a species of concern?

(Me)

Penguins suck, even colossal fire-breathing ones.

(Coworker B)

What!!??? They are the movie stars of Antarctica! Males practically starve themselves in the cold for their children while the female runs off and spends all the goods! It’s an apocryphal object lesson for all of us men.

Learn from the masters.

(Coworker A)

More sucky penguins attached here.

(Coworker B) 

Aww, they’re almost worth starving yourself to death for.

(Supervisor)

Since I am coming in late…  We’ll have to observe the fire-breathing penguin.  That one was a baby penguin.  How big does it get?  Was it in the “terrible 2s”?

(Coworker B) 

Apocalyptic megafauna are extreme K-selected organisms, therefore, they have long maturity cycles before reproduction. Since Godzilla was supposed to be pretty doggone old when he went on his rampage. Maybe this fire-breathing baby penguin is in the “terrible 200s”?

(Coworker A)

The babies breathe fire on just attack helicopters — adults will take on aircraft carriers… and leopard seals.

(Coworker B)  

The Navy isn’t going to like mitigating for that! I think that would be Terrestrial Resources’ responsibility. They certainly don’t breath fire when they are in the water!

(Supervisor)

Yes, they breathe fire under water!!!  They like their fish seared.  The flames are bluer.  

(Coworker A)

This one still has just down feathers (not waterproof), so wouldn’t be able to forage under water yet. Maybe that’s why it’s so pissed off – it’s just hungry.

Re: mitigation, we could likely just train them to do Force Protection, like the bottle-nose dolphins.

(Coworker B)

I see where this is going. Push the impossible task off on Marine Resources, watch them flounder, laugh when it taken away from us and given it to somebody else to put a happy spin on it and add it to the INRMP.

How cruel can you be??!!

(Coworker C)

I’m forwarding the picture to Ed Becker.  It will be perfect for the cover of the helicopter EIS he is working on!

(Supervisor)

INRMP section:

Endangered species: Apocolyptic baby penguin [mega-fauna group, linneas]/Order: Sphenisciformes/Genus: Aptenodytes apocolyticii var. pseudovertbratii

This bird is unique in several ways, it has moved north of the equator and has been known to roost in or transit through human metropolises.  It is distinct in that it appears to maintain chick plumage throughout its known (to humans) lifespan and can reach up to 50 ft (15.24 meters) high.  Luckily it is unable to fly, but when it is under stress it has been reported to display glowing red eyes and breathe flames at circling helicopters.  The USFWS listed the apocalyptic baby penguin as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 2008.  It was stated within the listing notice of the Federal Register that since only one apocalyptic baby penguin has been seen, this unique species must be protected from all irate governments. There has been no critical habitat designated.

The species is assumed to have world-wide distribution and could potentially show up at Navy Installations.  Monthly surveys for this species will be initiated within the next fiscal year.  It is assumed that since this species is worldwide, that this species will be included within the next iteration of the EIS documents on the Pacific side.  Surveys for at-sea sightings will begin upon completion of the section 7 consultation with NOAA. 

Current INRMP management will consist of grinding up large amounts of fish, or fish-based products (high-end cat food) and freezing the fish into assumed apocalyptic baby penguin gullet-sized portions.  Catapults will be installed at all installations and if a siting occurs, the apocalyptic Baby Penguin Strike Team (ABPST) will mobilize to all catapult stations (the model is the Incident Command System).  If the apocalyptic baby penguin begins to exhibit stressed behaviors, the ABPST will lob the thawed fish goo portions at the baby penguin in an effort to get it to eat the proferred food and fall asleep.  The Navy is still working on a plan to obtain a take permit from USFWS to move the penguin to a safer place while it is asleep.  

(Coworker B)

Wow! Your expertise extends to apocalyptic baby penguins! I am truly impressed!

The only things I would add is we need to have an appropriate military name for the catapults. How about penguin neutralizer uplift station or PNUS?

(Coworker A)

More appropriate for the bird world:

Cyprinid Launch Overhead-Applicator CAtapult (CLOACA)

(Coworker B)

Excellent! They wouldn’t even know why we would be laughing at them during the OPS brief. I can hear it now:

“We are assigning Captain Smith to man his CLOACA and subdue the target.”

(Coworker D)

I would like to suggest the Enormous Numbing Ultimate Katopolt-o-matic (UNIK)

(Me)

Maybe its just me, but prefer PNUS over UNIK.

(Coworker A)

Yeah, that’s not just you.

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.

You can see the abstract for free at the Biodiversity and Conservation website, but if you want to read the entire paper, then you have to pay $34.00.  I was a little surprised they included a head shot of a dead male Jackson’s in the paper.  If there is ever any kind of a depredation program to keep these guys out of native forests, I suspect it will be met with fierce opposition by many folks who have a strong affinity for the cute little beasts.  They have kind of become a Hawaiian icon – maybe not quite like the gecko, but they do have a certain status in Hawaii.  In light of this, I would hope the Hawaii environmental and conservation community proceeds with caution and tries to exercise some good PR along the way.  I don’t think a picture of a dead chameleon sends the right message, but then again its a research paper, not a community bulletin, so it’s probably not a big deal.  I guess I am somewhat guilty of the same offense by calling them “killers” in one of my blog entries.  Anyway, gruesome picture notwithstanding, I give these guys kudos for getting the paper out.  I know both Steve and Vince fairly well and they are both really good guys and extremely good field biologists.

And now a little teaser from their paper (the last two paragraphs of the discussion):

“Much remains to be determined in terms of making an accurate assessment of the threat posed by Jackson’s chameleons in Hawaii, and further work is planned. For example, little is known about their precise range, elevation preference, reproductive season and rate, desiccation tolerance, and prey preference. Jackson’s chameleons occur in lower to mid elevationnon-native forests on Oahu, and have rarely been reported from tree snail habitat, which tends to be upper elevation dominated by native flora beginning around 600 m above sea level. The observations presented provide conclusive evidence that when chameleons are present in native forest where tree snails and other endemic invertebrates occur, they pose a threat.”

“It is possible that due to a number of factors, such as prey availability and distribution, changing climatic conditions, recent population establishment due to pet release or escape, Jackson’s chameleons are undergoing a range expansion into upper elevations. This is a concern for a variety of threatened and endangered invertebrate species, including tree snails (Achatinella spp.), pomace flies (Drosophila spp.) , rare damselflies (Megalagrion spp.), and rare amastrid and succineid land snails, all restricted to upper elevation forests such as Mt. Kaala Natural Area Reserve adjacent to the sampling locality. Prior to this discovery, as part of an ongoing collaborative study, one author (BSH) has collected several hundred chameleons, and gut contents are being examined from populations in the Round Top/Tantalus area of the Koolau Mountains, Honolulu, on eastern Oahu (Whiting et al. in prep). Endangered Oahu tree snail species have not been observed in this region in several decades. It is conceivable that predation by Jackson’s chameleons may have played a role in the local extinction of Achatinella spp. in this area.”

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.

On a recent trip to the ridgeline of Lualualei Valley we were surprised to see a Jackson’s Chameleon, Chamaeleo jacksonii xantholophus .  One of the guys I was with happened to be looking at an Ohia tree just off the trail (at about 2,400 ft above sea level) with a pair of binoculars and by chance he spotted a big female.  You can see from the pictures that it was nicely camouflaged.  I think the white patch on its side is a shedding piece of skin.  I thought Jackson’s were found only in the Ko’olaus, so like I said, we were surprised.  The next day in the office I called Army Environmental to tell them about it and they were very interested.  It seems they have recently been finding them on the ridge to west of the location of our sighting.  They have been collecting all the Jackson’s they find and analyzing their gut contents. Unfortunately they have been finding, among other things, native insects and native snails in their stomachs.  I gave them the coordinates and description of where out sighting occurred, and amzingly enough they went back the next day a found the darn thing.  It had evidently move to a nearby christmasberry tree.  They collected it and are going to look at its stomach contents.  I really hope the day never comes when I have to start killing these guys as part of an invasive species management project.  I grew up loving them and dreamed of owning one as a pet – they rate high on the cool lizard scale.  I’ve also always wanted a green iguana…maybe one day.

Anyway, here is some interesting information from Sean Mckeown’s Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians in the Hawaiian Islands (Diamond Head Publishing, Inc., 1996)

“Hawaiian Jackson’s Chameleons have all descended from several dozen specimens.  In 1972, a Kaneohe pet shop owner, Robin Ventura, received a Hawaii State Dept. of Agriculture permit to bring in Jackson’s Chameleons for sale.  They arrived thin and dehydrated, so he released the lizards into his backyard on Kane’ohe Bay Drive, figuring they could be retrieved later, as needed.  The chameleons increased in numbers and by the late 1970′s had spread to the nearby watershed area at the base of the Ko’olau mountains.  The country of Kenya stopped exporting this species in 1981.  So, virtually every Jackson’s chameleon of this subspecies in captivity on the US mainland is of Hawaiian origing or has Hawaiian roots.  In the islands, this lizard is one of the most popular animals with young people and is widely kept as a pet. ”

“The Jackson’s chameleon is now well established in Hawai’i.  While it is most common on Oahu in areas of mid-elevation in the Ko’olau Range between Kane’ohe and Kailua, it has a wide, disjunct distributon throughout Oahu and can even be found on the much drier leeward side of the island.  Additionally, it is now also well established at mid-elevation in several areas on the Kona side of the Big Island of Hawaii and on the island of Maui.  In upcountry Maui around Makawao, these lizards are most frequently encountered in secondary disturbed forest areas, in various types of orchards and on hedges in yards.  The first reports of this species on the islands of Kauai and Lanai were in 1995.  The yellow-crested Jackson’s chameleon is native to the slopes of Mt. Kenya in the country of Kenya in East Africa where it occurs at 6,000-8,000 ft. (1830-2440 m) elevation.  It is the largest of the three Jackson’s chameleon subspecies.”

I took a few pics before releasing it:

“RECENT INSECT INTERCEPTIONS – Mr. Chilson reported the following major interceptions by Federal inspectors at the various airports on Oahu during the past three months.  All specimens were taken alive on airplanes, and all originated in Japan, with the single exception noted: Popillia japonica Newman; Honolulu airport, July 3, Mueller coll. Hickam Field, July 11, Stout coll.  Acrida turrita (L.); Hickam Field, August 12, Messersmith coll.  Protaetia orientalis Gory & Percheron; Honolulu airport, August 15, Messersmith coll.  Xylotrupes gideon (L.); from the Philippines; collected aboard plane by stewardesses, Honolulu airport, August 12 (Greenfield).  Spondylus buprestoides (L.); Honolulu airport, in suitcase, August 23, Mueller coll.”

(Chilson, L. M. 1952.  Proc Haw Ent Soc. 14(3):363)

“BEETLES INTERCEPTED IN QUARANTINE – Mr. Mahler exhibited the following scarabaeid adults recently intercepted at Honolulu: Anomala cuprea (Hope). Dead in plane from Japan.  Honolulu airport, June 16, J. Nichols.  Anomala sp.  Dead in plane from Japan, Honolulu airport, July 16, H. Messersmith.  Also collected at Haneda airport, Japan, O. O. Stout.  Anomala sulcatula Burmeister.  Alive on motor vessel a few miles out of Midway Is., June 26, G. Dyson.  Reported common on deck of ship at Midway.  Anomala viridana Kolbe (A. japonica Arrow).  Alive in plane from Wake Is., Honolulu airport, July 2, Ray Greenfield.  The pilot reported many of these beetles seen alive on Wake.  Protaetia orientalis (Gory and Percheron).  Alive in plane from Japan, Hickam Field, Honolulu, June 17, W. O’Sullivan.”

(Maehler, K. L. 1953. Proc Haw Ent Soc. 15(1):13)

For now I’ll just post some pics from an encounter in 2002.  This was before my time with Navy and involves my predecessor and mentor, Stan Higa.  The golf course superintendent at Mamala Bay (Hickam AFB) asked Stan to go out and look at an African tulip tree on the 9th hole that was infested with a large scarab beetle.  Stan checked it out on Nov 6, 2002, took some pictures, and collected some specimens.  Bernar Kumashiro at HDOA identified the beetle as Protaetia orientalis.  I’m not exactly sure what happened after that, but I think it was determined that the infestation was limited to that particular tree and treatment they didn’t find any more beetles in the area.  Not sure how much monitoring they did in the area or for how long.  I think I remember Bernar saying that there are other records of this species being found in Hawaii.  Anyway, below are the pictures that Stan took of this particular incident.