The Kamehameha butterfly (''Vanessa tameamea'') is one of the two species of butterfly endemism, endemic to Hawaii, the other is ''Udara blackburni''. The Hawaiian language, Hawaiian name is ''pulelehua''. This is today a catch-all native term for all butterflies; its origin seems to be ''pulelo'' "to float" or "to undulate in the air" + ''lehua'', "reddish," or "rainbow colored," probably due to the predominant color of the ''Metrosideros polymorpha'' flower: an animal that floats through the air, from one ''lehua'' to another. Alternatively, it is called ''lepelepe-o-Hina'' – roughly, "Hina (goddess), Hina's fringewing" – which is today also used for the introduced Monarch (butterfly), monarch butterfly. The Kamehameha butterfly was named the List of U.S. state insects, state insect of Hawaii in 2009, due to the work of a group of fifth-graders from Pearl Ridge Elementary. These 5th graders (Robyn-Ashley Amano, Ryan Asuka, Kristi Kimura, Jennifer Loui, Toshiro Yanai and Jenna Yanke) proposed the butterfly as the state insect to various legislators as a project for Gifted and Talented.

Description

The caterpillars feed on the leaves of plants in the family Urticaceae, especially those of ''māmaki'' (''Pipturus albidus'') but also ''ōpuhe'' (''Urera'' spp.), ''ākōlea'' (''Boehmeria grandis''), ''olonā'' (''Touchardia latifolia''), and ''maoloa'' (''Neraudia'' spp.). Adults eat the sap of ''koa'' (''Acacia koa'') trees.

Taxonomy

It is named after the royal House of Kamehameha; the last king of this lineage, Kamehameha V, died in 1872. The common name is taken from the specific name (zoology), specific name, ''tameamea'', an old-fashioned and partially wrong Transcription (linguistics), transcription of "Kamehameha". The Hawaiian language has no strict distinction between the voiceless alveolar plosive and voiceless velar plosive; use varies from island to island, but today, "k" is used as the standard transliteration. The voiceless glottal transition "h" is distinct and should always be pronounced - for example, "aloha" is correct whereas "aloa" is a wrong pronunciation. Thus, while "Tamehameha" would be a legitimate transcription (though considered old-fashioned on most islands), "Tameamea" is not.

References

External links

* * Vanessa (butterfly) Insects of Hawaii Endemic fauna of Hawaii Butterflies of Oceania Symbols of Hawaii Butterflies described in 1878 {{Nymphalinae-stub