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Video Q&A ViewAttendees 5

Plant-Insect Ecosystems

Section Symposium

Conserving Insects in a Vertebrate-minded World by Sharing Stories of Challenges and Success Across Taxonomic Boundaries

The Hawaii Invertebrate Program: Using habitat enhancement, captive rearing and translocations to stabilize and recover populations of rare and endangered species

On-Demand
On-Demand
The Hawaii Invertebrate Program (HIP) enacts applied research projects and furthers the conservation and management of rare invertebrate species in Hawaii. Projects range from basic biological and ecological studies to the development of specific captive rearing, propagation and reintroduction techniques. The benefits of applied research projects are two-fold; in the process of gathering important ecological information on a species, we are able to propagate large numbers of individuals which can then be systematically released to augment naturally occurring populations or used to establish new populations. Examples of insects targeted for captive propagation and reintroductions include the Kamehameha butterfly (Vanessa tamehameha), orange-black damselfly (Megalagrion xanthomelas), and yellow-faced bee (Hylaeus anthracinus). The HIP also encompasses the Snail Extinction Prevention Program, which coordinates the landscape scale conservation of rare Hawaiian tree snails across the state. Given that many of the target species are listed as endangered, projects are supported by, and conducted in close coordination with, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The objective for any of these target species is to increase populations in habitats currently suitable for their survival, as well as stabilize and diversify habitat to support reintroduction of these species where they do not currently occur. However, the protection and enhancement of existing habitat may be the only option when reintroduction efforts for some species prove unsuccessful.