Endemic island plant–herbivore interactions: Kamehameha butterfly (Nymphalidae) and Hawaiian Urticaceae

Abstract

Insect–plant interactions are less well studied than other types of herbivory on islands, precluding a comprehensive understanding of the evolutionary ecology of these interactions. Declines in native island plants and insects call for urgent attention to characterize these species' interactions for their conservation and to better understand evolution in these unique, insular ecosystems. In Hawai‘i, the Kamehameha butterfly (Vanessa tameamea) is one of only two native butterflies, and larvae are specialists on native urticaceous plants. Using a no‐choice bioassay, we investigated performance of V. tameamea reared from egg hatching through eclosion on four native urticaceous host plants, Boehmeria grandis, Pipturus albidus, Touchardia latifolia, and Touchardia oahuensis, and one exotic urticaceous species, Cecropia obtusifolia. Performance varied significantly among the plant diets, with V. tameamea performing best on P. albidus and T. oahuensis among the performance metrics of survival, pupal and adult body mass, and development time. Larval responses to the exotic host plant C. obtusifolia varied among populations, with O‘ahu caterpillars successfully completing development on it, but Hawai‘i Island caterpillars rejecting it completely, suggesting a geographic mosaic for this novel species interaction. Characterization of a suite of nutritive and defensive plant traits revealed significant variability among plant species, but patterns did not align well with V. tameamea performance rankings, making it difficult to identify key drivers of host plant quality. Future work examining additional plant traits under natural conditions would provide new insights, contributing critical ecological information to conserve this charismatic island species.