Insects of Hawaii facts for kids

The Insects of Hawaii series is a big project that helps us learn all about the amazing insects and other tiny creatures living in Hawaii. It's like a giant encyclopedia for Hawaiian bugs! Scientists work together to find, name, and describe every single insect species found there.

So far, more than 5,000 different kinds of native arthropods have been found and described in these books. The series is now led by James K. Liebherr from Cornell University.

Discovering Hawaii's Unique Insects

What is the Series About?

The main goal of the Insects of Hawaii series is to create a complete guide to all the known insects and arthropods in Hawaii. This helps us understand how these creatures live, where they come from, and how they fit into Hawaii's special environment.

Many of Hawaii's insects are found nowhere else in the world! This series helps protect them by giving scientists the information they need.

Important Volumes You Can Find

Not all the books in the series are still being printed. But some important ones are, and you can often find them in libraries or for sale. The books that are still in print are:

• Volume 1: Introduction. This book, first written by Elwood C. Zimmerman, was reissued in 2001. It talks about Hawaii's geological history, like how the islands formed. It also explains how insects arrived, spread, and changed over time in Hawaii.
• Volume 16: Hawaiian Carabidae (Coleoptera). This book, written by James K. Liebherr and Elwood C. Zimmerman in 2000, focuses on a specific type of beetle called Carabidae, also known as ground beetles.
• Volume 17: Hawaiian Hylaeus (Nesoprosopis) Bees. Published in 2003 by Howell V. Daly and Karl N. Magnacca, this volume is all about the native Hawaiian yellow-faced bees, which are very important pollinators.

Exploring More Insects

Many of the older books in the series are no longer printed. But don't worry! The University of Hawaii is scanning these books and putting them online in their digital repository. This means you can still read them and learn about all the different insects, even if the physical books are hard to find.

These older volumes cover many different groups of insects, from tiny springtails (Collembola) to various types of flies (Diptera) and butterflies (Lepidoptera). Each book goes into great detail about the specific insect groups it covers, helping scientists identify and study them.