Posted on: Friday, June 14, 2002

Areas on 4 islands proposed as moth habitat

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service yesterday proposed identifying nearly 100,000 acres on four islands as critical habitat for the Blackburn's sphinx moth.

The giant month is the largest Hawaiian insect. It has a 5-inch wingspan, and was once found from one end of the Hawaiian chain to the other.

It was believed extinct in the late 1970s, but since then, scientists have found the species on Hawai'i, Maui and Kaho'olawe.

The moth's caterpillar feeds on members of the nightshade family and has adapted to using native plants and introduced nightshades, like the tobacco tree.

It prefers dryland forest areas, which have been significantly altered in most of the Islands. The wildlife service said as much as 70 percent of its original known habitat has changed so much that the insects can't use it. It is also threatened by predatory wasps and ants.

The wildlife service proposes 99,433 acres of critical habitat on Maui, Hawai'i, Moloka'i and Kaho-'olawe. The state owns 70,290 acres and private owners control 29,140 acres, with 2 acres in federal ownership. For more information, call the Fish and Wildlife Service at 541-3441.

The wildlife service is under federal court order to designate critical habitat for the species. The court acted in response to a lawsuit filed on behalf of the Conservation Council for Hawaii.