UH Hilo Center for Maunakea Stewardship - Research Library

Results of the 2009 alien species and Wekiu bug (Nysius Wekiuicola) surveys on the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii Island. Final report.

Author:
Englund, R. A., Preston, D.J., Myers, S., Englund, L. L., Imada, C., Evenhuis, N.L., Hawaii Biological Survey,
Title:
Results of the 2009 alien species and Wekiu bug (Nysius Wekiuicola) surveys on the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii Island. Final report.
Year:
2010
Subject:
Wekiu bug surveys Nysius wekiuicola
Summary:
As part of a continuing long-term study, the Hawaii Biological Survey of the Bishop Museum was contracted by the Office of Mauna Kea Management (OMKM) to monitor for alien arthropod species and to continue monitoring populations of the wekiu bug (Nysius wekiuicola Ashlock and Gagne), which is endemic to the Mauna Kea summit area of Hawaii Island. A nine-day field trip was conducted in July 2009 to continue the monitoring of introduced arthropod species found at the Mauna Kea summit, and to continue monitoring wekiu bug populations within critical core habitats. The objective of the alien arthropod baseline and monitoring surveys was to provide information to managers on any potential threats to endemic Mauna Kea arthropod species such as the wekiu bug. Intensive surveys for ants were conducted to assess if any populations are currently found within any areas in close proximity to wekiu bugs. Ants are already well-established at the summit regions of Haleakala National Park on Maui, and this elevational range is well within that of lowest elevation wekiu bugs have been found. Because of the predatory and social nature of ants, and because ants have caused the extinction and decline of native arthropods throughout Hawaii, it was imperative to search high risk areas around the Mauna Kea summit region. During the course of the 2009 field study, 118 wekiu bugs were collected at different cinder cones throughout the Mauna Kea summit region, and 89 traps were set for alien species monitoring. In 2009, no new resident alien species were found during intensive alien arthropod species monitoring round the summit region, and species of particular concern such as ants were not found from Hale Pohaku (2,755m) to the highest point in the Hawaiian Islands of Puu Wekiu (4,205m). Aeolian arthropod drift capture density and species diversity in the arthropod traps set out around the summit was quite high in 2009, likely a result of moist conditions in the lower elevation regions of Mauna Kea during the preceding winter.
URL:
http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/publications/pdf/wekiu2010-rep.pdf
Date:
July 2010
Collection:
Monographs