Wind, Wave and Wings-Oodemas maulense-

The Hawaiian Islands are very isolated, and colonizing species arrived there against overwhelming odds by wind, waves, or wings as a small group or flock, or even a single individual. A species' survival depended on finding suitable food and habitat to sustain life and allow reproduction. Once there, the colonizers were isolated from all other individuals of their species, and in that isolation the new arrivals adapted to diverse habitats and ultimately evolved into new species. From a single colonizing species, the small, rare snout weevils called Oodemas, found only in the Hawaiian Islands, evolved into 62 different species. Fifteen species are found within Haleakala National Park. Many snout weevils are found only in very restricted habitat, such as the summit of Haleakala. The Hawaiian species have evolved in isolation for so long that the original ancestor is unknown. A favorite food for birds, adult Oodemas weevils hide under bark and in mosses and leaf litter by day; at night, these tiny weevils emerge to feed on native plants. The species shown is less than three-sixteenths of an inch long.

Olinda, Hawaii · United States