UH Hilo Center for Maunakea Stewardship - Research Library

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service species assessment and listing priority assignment form - Wekiu bug

Author:
Belluomini, Linda
Title:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service species assessment and listing priority assignment form - Wekiu bug
Year:
2011
Pages:
14 p.
Subject:
Wekiu bug Nysius wekiuicola
Summary:
The wekiu bug, (Nysius wekiuicola Ashlock and Gagne), is a unique component of the high elevation aeolian ecosystem on Mauna Kea (13,796 ft above sea level) (4,206m). Along with its close relative on Mauna Loa (13,679 ft) (4,169m), the wekiu bug differs from all other Nysius species in its predatory habits and unusual physical characteristics and high elevation habitat (Polhemus 1998). Wekiu bugs are most often found under rocks and cinders. They are diurnally active and feed on moribund and most dead insects that blow up from lower elevations. The presence of high altitude arthropods on Mauna Kea has been known since the 1920s but it wasn't until 1980 that the wekiu bug and other arthropods were identified as being resident predator-scavengers. In field conditions, the wekiu bug has been observed feeding upon adult lady beetles, upon recently dead adult syrphid and other flies, and even dead birds. The wekiu bug has not been observed feeding upon other resident aeolin arthropods. Larval and adult wekiu bugs can remain active during winter months, and exhibit activity at ambient air temperatures of 19 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 7 degrees Celsius). The cold of the annual snow fall on Mauna Kea may assist the wekiu bug by immobilizing and preserving prey that are carried by winds up to the upper elevations and summit of Mauna Kea. Although difficult to establish, it is widely believed the wekiu bug has some obligatory association with snow and/or permafrost, the former for food, and the latter especially for year-around moisture. This would partly explain its restriction to high elevations on Mauna Kea.
URL:
https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/candidate/assessments/2011/r1/I0RH_I01.pdf
Date:
April 2010
Collection:
Monographs