| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication: | 2011 |
| Authors: | W. P. Haines, Starr, F., Starr, K., W. King, G. |
| Journal: | Journal of the Lepidopterists SocietyJournal of the Lepidopterists Society |
| Volume: | 65 |
| Pagination: | 53-57 |
| Keywords: | Erebidae, HAWAII, invasive species, LEPIDOPTERA, Noctuidae, Noctuioidea, Pacific Insects |
| Abstract: | In November 2009, an exotic fruit piercing moth was collected at an elevation of 1125 m in Kula, Maui, Hawaii by W. G. King, and the specimen was submitted with his insect collection for an introductory entomology course at the University of Hawaii. Soon thereafter, the species was independently collected by the authors and others from other localities on the islands of Maui, Kauai, Oahu, and Hawaii (C. Campora, B. Kumashiro, C. Jacobsen pers. comm.), and tentatively identified as Oraesia excavata (Butler) (Erebidae: Calpinae: Calpini), which was confirmed by M. Pogue (2010). To our knowledge, this is the first record of establishment of O. excavata outside of Asia, and certainly the first record of establishment in the USA. Widespread surveys have not taken place, so the full extent of the invasion within Hawaii remains unknown. However, the species has been collected from widely dispersed sites on the islands of Kauai, Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii, and eradication is not considered a possibility. |
| Short Title: | J. Lepid. Soc. |