| Oliarus kalaupapae | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hemiptera |
| Suborder: | Auchenorrhyncha |
| Infraorder: | Fulgoromorpha |
| Family: | Cixiidae |
| Genus: | Oliarus |
| Species: | O. kalaupapae |
| Binomial name | |
| Oliarus kalaupapae Hoch & Howarth 1998 | |
Oliarus kalaupapae, the Moloka'i cave planthopper, is a species of Oliarus planthopper endemic to the island of Moloka'i, where it inhabits subterranean lava tubes.
Oliarus kalaupapae is among the least visibly cave-adapted of the Hawaiian cave planthoppers, and still retains wings and eyes (unlike Oliarus polyphemus and Oliarus priola on Hawai'i island and Maui, respectively). Adults are uniformly yellow colored and reach up to 5.6mm long, with females being slightly larger than males. [2]
Olarius kalaupapae is only found on the island of Moloka'i, where it is to restricted to dark underground caves and crevices. It inhabits lava tubes formed by the long-extinct East Moloka'i volcano hundreds of thousands of years ago. [2]
A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word cave can refer to smaller openings such as sea caves, rock shelters, and grottos, that extend a relatively short distance into the rock and they are called exogene caves. Caves which extend further underground than the opening is wide are called endogene caves.
A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more viscous lava erupted from a stratovolcano. Repeated eruptions result in the steady accumulation of broad sheets of lava, building up the shield volcano's distinctive form.
A lava tube, or pyroduct, is a natural conduit formed by flowing lava from a volcanic vent that moves beneath the hardened surface of a lava flow. If lava in the tube empties, it will leave a cave.
Kazumura Cave is a lava tube and has been surveyed at 40.7 miles long and 3,614 feet deep making it the longest and deepest lava tube in the world. The cave is located on the island of Hawaiʻi on the eastern slope of Kīlauea. Kīlauea is the most recently active volcano on the Big Island. The ʻAilāʻau lava flow that contains Kazumura Cave originated from the Kīlauea Iki Crater about 500 years ago.
The Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes is a World Heritage Site in South Korea. It was inscribed as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2007 because of the Geomunoreum Lava Tube System and the exhibition of diverse and accessible volcanic features which are considered to demonstrate a distinctive and valuable contribution to the understanding of global volcanism.
The Kauaʻi cave wolf spider, also known to local residents as the blind spider, is only known to occur in a few caves in a lava flow with an area of 10.5 km2 (4.1 sq mi) in the Kōloa–Poʻipū region of Kauaʻi, Hawaiian Islands, and only six populations are known to exist. While their nearest surface-dwelling relatives have large eyes, this species has completely lost its eyes. They reach a body length around 20 mm (0.8 in), and are reddish brown and completely harmless to people. Unlike most wolf spiders, it produces only 15 to 30 eggs per clutch. The female carries the egg sac in her mouthparts until the spiderlings hatch.
Cave-dwelling insects are among the most widespread and prominent troglofauna, including troglobites, troglophiles, and trogloxenes. As a category of ecological adaptations, such insects are significant in many senses, ecological, evolutionary, and physiological.
The Pacific Hawaiian damselfly, Megalagrion pacificum, is a species of damselfly that is native to Hawaiian streams and wetlands at low elevations. They are predaceous and territorial narrow-winged damselflies that can be identified by their abdominal markings. In the last century, the populations of Pacific Hawaiian damselflies have decreased due to invasive species, habitat loss, climate change, stream alteration, and urban development. The species was listed as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act on July 26, 2010.
Cavaticovelia is a monotypic genus of insects in the order Hemiptera, the true bugs, containing the single species Cavaticovelia aaa. This bug, known commonly as the aaa water treader, lava tube crawler, or lava tube water treader, is a water treader native to Hawaii.
A lava cave is any cave formed in volcanic rock, though it typically means caves formed by volcanic processes, which are more properly termed volcanic caves. Sea caves, and other sorts of erosional and crevice caves, may be formed in volcanic rocks, but through non-volcanic processes and usually long after the volcanic rock was emplaced.
The Falemauga Caves are large natural caverns in a series of lava-tunnels situated in the Tuamasaga district along the central ridge of Upolu island in Samoa. The caves have been studied by archaeologists in Samoa with evidence of human occupation in pre-history. They were also used as a place of refuge by the people of Tuamasaga.
The Makauwahi Cave is the largest limestone cave found in Hawaii. It lies on the south coast of the island of Kauaʻi, in the Māhāʻulepū Valley close to Māhāʻulepū Beach, and is important for its paleoecological and archaeological values. It is reached via a sinkhole and has been described as “…maybe the richest fossil site in the Hawaiian Islands, perhaps in the entire Pacific Island region”.
Schrankia howarthi is a species of moth of the family Erebidae. It normally occurs within the twilight to dark zone areas of lava tubes on the islands of Maui and Hawaii, however, it is sometimes found flying on the surface of both islands. The paler morph may be restricted to the dark zone of lava tubes.
Apteribis is an extinct genus of flightless birds in the ibis subfamily that was endemic to the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Subterranean fauna refers to animal species that are adapted to live in an underground environment. Troglofauna and stygofauna are the two types of subterranean fauna. Both are associated with hypogean habitats – troglofauna is associated with terrestrial subterranean environment, and stygofauna with all kind of subterranean waters.
Melanoliarus is a genus of cixiid planthoppers in the family Cixiidae. There are at about 50 described species in Melanoliarus, which are common and widespread in the Nearctic and Neotropics.
Kaumana Cave is a lava tube created by a 1881 lava flow from Mauna Loa. The tube has been surveyed at 2.026 miles long making it the 57th longest lava tube in the world.
An anchialine system is a landlocked body of water with a subterranean connection to the ocean. Depending on its formation, these systems can exist in one of two primary forms: pools or caves. The primary differentiating characteristics between pools and caves is the availability of light; cave systems are generally aphotic while pools are euphotic. The difference in light availability has a large influence on the biology of a given system. Anchialine systems are a feature of coastal aquifers which are density stratified, with water near the surface being fresh or brackish, and saline water intruding from the coast at depth. Depending on the site, it is sometimes possible to access the deeper saline water directly in the anchialine pool, or sometimes it may be accessible by cave diving.
Oliarus polyphemus, the Hawai'i cave planthopper, is a species of Oliarus planthopper endemic to the island of Hawai'i, where it inhabits subterranean lava tubes and crevice networks embedded in solidified lava flows.
Oliarus priola, the Maui cave planthopper, is a species of Oliarus planthopper endemic to the island of Maui, where it inhabits subterranean lava tubes.
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