InsectNet forum

I have a particular affinity for endemism due to islanding, whether it be islanded by sea, sand, or temperature. Of course, my primary passion is for Island endemics- those found only on one island or archipelago. And amongst those, endemics at the species level (or, even higher!) Of late, John Grehan and others have published interesting articles lately on how endemism on islands occurs.

Anyway, people like photos, so here are endemics from Makira (San Christobal), Solomon Islands, from top:

Hypolimnas exiguus male
Hypolimnas exiguus female
Graphium codrus christobalus male
Danaus affinis insolata male

Makira/ Ulawa is interesting because the danaus, euploea, and nymphalidae have the white wing margins, which is unique in Solomon Islands.



I'd love to see more endemics, particularly very restricted taxa.

I guess it doesnt match your criteria 100%, as it occurs both on Palawan and Balabac in The Philippines, but its the closest i got to an "one island only" endemic.
Athyma speciosa

That's a cool Lep. I've never seen that.

I enjoy all endemics, though of course Leps are more aligned with my field of study. The Eclectus parrots are an awesome example of polymorphism in endemics.

You picked up that damned lizard? I tried to grab one that size, and it spun around and tried to grab me. I don't mess with big lizards anymore.

The aquarists are fanatics. They pull new species of fish out of the wild faster than they can be described. Most are endemic to particular tributaries, rather than islands, though there's many islands that simply haven't been sampled and no doubt hold thousands more endemics to be discovered.

Good thread.
Assuming you mean full species rather than subspecies Chuck?
I have that Athyma. It's a lovely one Wolf.

daveuk wrote: ↑Wed Nov 23, 2022 1:00 pm Good thread.
Assuming you mean full species rather than subspecies Chuck?
I have that Athyma. It's a lovely one Wolf.

I don't mean to restrict anything, just citing my personal level of interest.

The islanded mountain species in US south west are very interesting.

PERSONALLY, I'm less astonished by islanded species that cover a large area, such as Papilio appalachiensis which has a range roughly covering the heights of the Appalachian mountains; but again, that's just me. I love reading about species, or subspecies, that are found on only small islands or sets of islands and contemplating the circumstances that brought them there, or restricted them there, or allowed them to uniquely develop there.

But there's Papilio joanae- why is it there? Is it dying off? What got it there, and only there? And the Bog Buckbean moths formerly known as Hemileuca maia - how did they evolve to suit that environment? Why are they almost gone? Were they evolving, or devolving?

Here is a true island endemic. Papilio erithonoides. Madagascar
It resembles closely Papilio demodocus commonly encountered on the African continent but also found in Madagascar

Strangely, there are two more Madagascar endemic species in the same group, Papilio morondavana and P. grosesmithi.

Adam.

daveuk wrote: ↑Wed Nov 23, 2022 3:19 pm Here is a true island endemic. Papilio erithonoides. Madagascar
It resembles closely Papilio demodocus commonly encountered on the African continent but also found in Madagascar

Nice specimen! Of the demodocus clade, I've only ever able to obtain demodocus and demoleus. I've long watched for an opportunity to acquire morondavana and grosesmithi, but they never seem to be available -


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papilio_m ... davana.JPG


http://swallowtails.net/P_grosemithi.htm

Something for the Coleopterists

Batocera lamondi, endemic to the island of Malaita, Solomon Islands





I assume this ssp of Buprestid is endemic to Temotu Province, Solomon Islands. At least that's what I recall. The photo doesn't come close to showing the brilliant orange reflection on the elytra. I put a few on Ebay 20 years ago at what I thought were very high prices and they sold immediately. I recall a buyer informing me that it's an endemic at the ssp level; certainly, not much comes out of Temotu because it's such a remote area. Does anyone have an ID on this?

Chuck,

My but you have gotten around! Where's Temotu? Out in the Reef Islands, or maybe over towards Santa Cruz?

Been meaning to ask someone who would know: Is Malaita pronounced "Ma Lay Ta" or is it "Mala i Ta"?

Tks,
John

Temotu Province is in political Solomon Islands, though way east near Vanuatu (formerly New Hebrides). Santa Cruz islands are within Temotu Province, and include the island also called Santa Cruz.

Malaita is a large island in Solomon Islands proper, NE of Guadalcanal. It's pronounced Mah-laye-tah.



I never made it to Malaita, nor to Temotu. Regional dealers would occasionally go to the capital Honiara on Guadalcanal to try to find a buyer for their insects, and if I got lucky I'd run into them. I really wasn't interested in buying specimens for commercial sale, but at the time Solomon Islands was in a civil war and the ordinary people needed every cent they could get, so I bought what I could to help them. Commercial sales got too big for me to handle, so I gave the business away to an ethical US-based retailer that could.

Most of my time was on (of course) Guadalcanal, on poorly surveyed San Christobal (Makira) Island, and the other direction Western Province. I've been to Vanuatu (and Fiji, Tonga, Samoas, etc.) but without much time to do any field work.

Chuck wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 3:13 pm ...I assume this ssp of Buprestid is endemic to Temotu Province, Solomon Islands. At least that's what I recall. The photo doesn't come close to showing the brilliant orange reflection on the elytra. I put a few on Ebay 20 years ago at what I thought were very high prices and they sold immediately. I recall a buyer informing me that it's an endemic at the ssp level; certainly, not much comes out of Temotu because it's such a remote area. Does anyone have an ID on this?

A species of Paracupta, possibly P. helopioides -

https://www.flickr.com/photos/33398884@N03/51057078947

livingplanet3 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 23, 2022 7:26 pm

daveuk wrote: ↑Wed Nov 23, 2022 3:19 pm Here is a true island endemic. Papilio erithonoides. Madagascar
It resembles closely Papilio demodocus commonly encountered on the African continent but also found in Madagascar

Nice specimen! Of the demodocus clade, I've only ever able to obtain demodocus and demoleus. I've long watched for an opportunity to acquire morondavana and grosesmithi, but they never seem to be available -


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papilio_m ... davana.JPG


http://swallowtails.net/P_grosemithi.htm

Not sure where you live, but demoleus is now established in parts of the US and common in the Caribbean.

eurytides wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 11:46 pm Not sure where you live, but demoleus is now established in parts of the US and common in the Caribbean.

I've not heard of any records of demoleus from the mainland US (only the Caribbean). Have there now been some sightings from Florida? If this species were to turn up anywhere on the mainland, FL would be the most likely place.

livingplanet3 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 12:00 am

eurytides wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 11:46 pm Not sure where you live, but demoleus is now established in parts of the US and common in the Caribbean.

I've not heard of any records of demoleus from the mainland US (only the Caribbean). Have there now been some sightings from Florida? If this species were to turn up anywhere on the mainland, FL would be the most likely place.

Several have been posted to inaturalist from a few places

https://www.inaturalist.org/observation ... n_id=51583

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/artic ... ne.0141882

Chuck, see here regarding P. joanae.

livingplanet3 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 4:30 pm

Chuck wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 3:13 pm ...I assume this ssp of Buprestid is endemic to Temotu Province, Solomon Islands. At least that's what I recall. The photo doesn't come close to showing the brilliant orange reflection on the elytra. I put a few on Ebay 20 years ago at what I thought were very high prices and they sold immediately. I recall a buyer informing me that it's an endemic at the ssp level; certainly, not much comes out of Temotu because it's such a remote area. Does anyone have an ID on this?

A species of Paracupta, possibly P. helopioides -

https://www.flickr.com/photos/33398884@N03/51057078947

Thanks. That jives with a note I have, though I didn't reconcile it with the beetles. I did some searching and apparently P helopiodes is found also on Makira which is the closest large island to Temotu Prov.

eurytides wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 1:23 pm https://journals.plos.org/plosone/artic ... ne.0141882

Chuck, see here regarding P. joanae.

Thanks. I've read that, as well as the original description, then a follow-on to the original description with more of the photos / identifiers that were used for the original description. When one takes the original publication describing joanae and the other photos that didn't make it to the publication, it seems P joanae is quite variable, beyond the "unique" morphological attributes...to the extent that some polyxenes fit the description. I've seen likewise with P appalachiensis. In both cases, it seems the original authors may have cherry-picked specimens to fit the description.

MikeH wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 3:35 am Several have been posted to inaturalist from a few places

https://www.inaturalist.org/observation ... n_id=51583

Thanks for the link. Interesting that most of the sightings are from CA; I thought that demoleus would appear in FL first.

While we're on the topic of island endemics, here's Vanessa tameamea, one of only two butterflies endemic to Hawaii -