State researchers, working to re-establish the population of Hawai‘i’s official state insect, the Kamehameha butterfly (pulelehua), are having trouble due predators feeding on caterpillars before they have a chance to develop into butterflies.

A release from the Department of Land and Natural Resources says entomologist Will Haines, along with the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife member, Jana Maravi, hike into protected restoration areas to place the caterpillars of the Kamehameha butterfly onto native māmaki plants, their most common food source.

To get a better sense of why caterpillars are disappearing, during this process remote cameras are set up in trees hooked to digital video recorders.  Cameras are showing non-native, introduced birds are the likely culprits, along with some ant species.

Although the Kamehameha butterfly still occurs on most of the main Hawaiian Islands, its range has shrunk on every island. There are few accessible places on Oahu where you can still see the butterfly. Haines said, “They are definitely not as abundant as they used to be. If we can figure out the predator piece of the puzzle, hopefully we can take steps to reduce the trend.”

A newly release childrenʻs book entitled “Butterfly for a King” is now available to learn more about the Kamehameha butterfly.

Photo courtesy of the Department of Land and Natural Resources