The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaiʻi in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll. Formerly the group was known to Europeans and Americans as the Sandwich Islands, a name that James Cook chose in honor of the then First Lord of the Admiralty John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. The contemporary name, dating from the 1840s, is derived from the name of the largest island, Hawaiʻi Island. The islands were first known to Europeans after the expedition of Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón in 1527.
Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano on the island of Hawaiʻi. Its peak is 4,207.3 m (13,803 ft) above sea level, making it the highest point in the state of Hawaiʻi. Most of the volcano is underwater, and when measured from its underwater base, Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world, measuring 10,211 m (33,500 ft) in height. Mauna Kea is about a million years old, and has thus passed the most active shield stage of life hundreds of thousands of years ago. In its current post-shield state, its lava is more viscous, resulting in a steeper profile. Late volcanism has also given it a much rougher appearance than its neighboring volcanoes due to construction of cinder cones, decentralization of its rift zones, glaciation on its peak, and weathering by the prevailing trade winds. Mauna Kea last erupted 6,000 to 4,000 years ago and is now considered dormant. The peak is about 38 m (125 ft) higher than Mauna Loa, its more massive neighbor.
Macadamia is a genus of four species of trees indigenous to Australia, and constituting part of the plant family Proteaceae. They are native to north eastern New South Wales and central and south eastern Queensland. Three species of the genus are commercially important for their fruit, the macadamia nut. Global production in 2015 was 160,000 tonnes. Other names include Queensland nut, bush nut, maroochi nut, bauple nut, and Hawaii nut. In Australian Aboriginal languages, the fruit is known by names such as bauple, gyndl, jindilli, and boombera. It was an important source of bushfood for the Aboriginal peoples who were the original inhabitants of the area.
The spinner dolphin is a small dolphin found in off-shore tropical waters around the world. It is famous for its acrobatic displays in which it spins along its longitudinal axis as it leaps through the air. It is a member of the family Delphinidae of toothed whales.
The Hawaiian monk seal is an endangered species of earless seal in the family Phocidae that is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.
Monk seals are earless seals of the tribe Monachini. They are the only earless seals found in tropical climates. The two genera of monk seals, Monachus and Neomonachus, comprise three species: the Mediterranean monk seal, Monachus monachus; the Hawaiian monk seal, Neomonachus schauinslandi; and the Caribbean monk seal, Neomonachus tropicalis, which became extinct in the 20th century. The two surviving species are now rare and in imminent danger of extinction. All three monk seal species were classified in genus Monachus until 2014, when the Caribbean and Hawaiian species were placed into a new genus, Neomonachus.
Nepticulidae is a family of very small moths with a worldwide distribution. They are characterised by eyecaps over the eyes. These pigmy moths or midget moths, as they are commonly known, include the smallest of all living moths, with a wingspan that can be as little as 3 mm in the case of the European pigmy sorrel moth, but more usually 3.5–10 mm. The wings of adult moths are narrow and lanceolate, sometimes with metallic markings, and with the venation very simplified compared to most other moths.
Metrosideros polymorpha, the ʻōhiʻa lehua, is a species of flowering evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that is endemic to the six largest islands of Hawaiʻi. It is a highly variable tree, being 20–25 m (66–82 ft) tall in favorable situations, and a much smaller prostrate shrub when growing in boggy soils or directly on basalt. It produces a brilliant display of flowers, made up of a mass of stamens, which can range from fiery red to yellow. Many native Hawaiian traditions refer to the tree and the forests it forms as sacred to Pele, the volcano goddess, and to Laka, the goddess of hula. ʻŌhiʻa trees grow easily on lava, and are usually the first plants to grow on new lava flows.
Opostegidae or "white eyecap moths" is a family of insects in the order Lepidoptera that is characterised by particularly large eyecaps over the compound eyes. Opostegidae are most diverse in the New World tropics.
Avian malaria is a parasitic disease of birds, caused by parasite species belonging to the genera Plasmodium and Hemoproteus. The disease is transmitted by a dipteran vector including mosquitoes in the case of Plasmodium parasites and biting midges for Hemoproteus. The range of symptoms and effects of the parasite on its bird hosts is very wide, from asymptomatic cases to drastic population declines due to the disease, as is the case of the Hawaiian honeycreepers. The diversity of parasites is large, as it is estimated that there are approximately as many parasites as there are species of hosts. Co-speciation and host switching events have contributed to the broad range of hosts that these parasites can infect, causing avian malaria to be a widespread global disease, found everywhere except Antarctica.
Paralopostega callosa is a moth of the family Opostegidae. It was first described by Otto Swezey in 1921. It is endemic to the Hawaiian island of Oahu, where it is thought to be widespread in the Koʻolau Range.
Paralopostega filiforma is a moth of the family Opostegidae. It was first described by Otto Swezey in 1921. It is endemic to the Hawaiian island of Oahu.
Paralopostega maculata is a moth of the family Opostegidae. It was first described by Lord Walsingham in 1907. It is endemic to the Hawaiian islands of Oahu and Molokai.
Paralopostega peleana is a moth of the family Opostegidae. It was first described by Otto Swezey in 1921. It is endemic to the Hawaiian islands of Oahu and possibly Kauai.
Paralopostega serpentina is a moth of the family Opostegidae. It was first described by Otto Swezey in 1921. It is endemic to the Hawaiian islands of Oahu and possibly Kauai.
Opostegoides gephyraea is a moth of the family Opostegidae. It was described by Edward Meyrick in 1881. It is known from New South Wales in Australia.
Opostega diplardis is a moth of the family Opostegidae. It was described by Edward Meyrick in 1912. It is known from the area of the former Transvaal Province in South Africa.
Opostega orestias is a moth of the family Opostegidae. It was described by Edward Meyrick in 1880. It is known from Queensland, Australia.
Opostega radiosa is a moth of the family Opostegidae. It was described by Edward Meyrick in 1913. It is known from the area of the former Transvaal Province, South Africa.
