Hyposmocoma kawaikoi Schmitz & Rubinoff, 2011, SP. NOV.
Creators: name: Schmitz, Patrick
name: Rubinoff, Daniel
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Cosmopterigidae
Hyposmocoma
Hyposmocoma kawaikoi

description: HYPOSMOCOMA KAWAIKOI SCHMITZ & RUBINOFF SP. NOV. (FIGS 1D, 2B, 8, 11D)   
 Material examined: HOLOTYPE ♂: [1] ‘H[AWAI]I: Kauai, Kawaikoi stream | N 22.13158°, W 159.62161° | elev[ation]. 3490 f[ee]t, ‘cone’ case, II-24 -[20]09 | em[ergence]. IV-6-[20]09, #DR09B7A | coll[ectors]. P[atrick]. Schmitz, D [aniel]. Rubinoff | M[ichael]. San Jose’; [2] ‘ HOLOTYPE | Hyposmocoma | kawaikoi | Schmitz and Rubinoff’. Specimen in perfect. Deposited in the UHIM.   
PARATYPES: 18 ♂, 10 ♀, from Kauai Island, Hawaii, USA; 4 ♂, with same data as holotype except date of emergence; 14 ♂, 10 ♀, with same data as  
 Female genitalia (N = 1) (Fig. 11D). As for H. kahamanoa, except for posterior apophyses about 3.5 ¥ length of anterior apophyses.   
 Larval case (N = 45) (Fig. 2B). Cone-shaped structure, 6.0–7.0 mm in length, large and broad, decorated with bits of dark grey sand woven with silver silk filaments; bicoloured, paler beneath and darker above; aperture of case covered with an operculum decorated with small beige, brown, white, and black pebbles fastened by silk, can be closed neatly and tightly by the larvae with its mandibles from the inside; case has silk extensions laterally from each side of the aperture giving the appearance of horns; pebbles extend on dorsal side until about half of the case; background colour ranging from grey to dark brown.   
 Etymology: The name H. kawaikoi is derived from the Kawaikoi stream in the Alaka‘i swamp on the island of Kauai where this species can be found.   
holotype except date of emergence: 31.iii.2009 (2 ♂), 1.iv.2009 (1 ♂, 1 ♀), 3.iv.2009 (2 ♂), 9.iv.2009 (2 ♂, 2 ♀), 10.iv.2009 (3 ♂), 13.iv.2009 (3 ♂, one dissected PS198, 3 ♀, one dissected PS199), 14.iv.2009 (1 ♂, 1 ♀), 16.iv.2009 (3 ♀). Deposited in MHNG, UHIM, and USNM.  
 Diagnosis: Hyposmocoma kawaikoi is a mostly uniform dark grey species. Based on external and genital characters, it can be easily separated from the closest looking species, H. kahaiao sp. nov., H. kahamanoa sp. nov., H. saccophora Walsingham, 1907, and H uhauiole sp. nov. by its more uniform background colour, and the broad valvae in males.   
 Description: Male (N = 19) (Figs 1D, 8). Wingspan 9.3–10.3 mm (holotype: 10.1 mm). As H. kahamanoa, except antennal pecten present with up to seven thin setae, forewing ground colour mostly dark grey with some scattered off-white and light bluish tinge scales, off-white markings as a large notch subapically on costal margin and another opposite on inner margin.   
 Male genitalia (N = 1) (Fig. 8). As for H. kahamanoa, except for valvae with three rounded spurlike setae on right valva and three on left valva sequentially longer distally being six ¥ length of those on right valva.   
 Female (N = 9). Wingspan 9.8–10.7 mm. Frenulum with three acanthae. Antennae slightly thinner than that of male. Otherwise externally like males.   
 Biology: Adults were reared from amphibious casemaking larvae. Case-bearing larvae were collected during the day on rocks in streams on the island of Kauai in February, and have been observed in May and August as well. These larvae are frequently found on relatively small, barely emergent rocks in fast flowing torrents. The climate at this high elevation site is much cooler and even wetter (nearby areas average over 10 m of rain per year) than the Wailua river area on the east side of Kauai. Although the larvae of Kawaikoi are found year round, temperatures can approach freezing in this location. This is not the case for the lower elevation Wailua river area of Kauai, which remains much more tropical year round.   
 Distribution: Known only from the Kawaikoi stream that drains the Alaka‘i swamp on the north-western plateau of the island of Kauai where it is presumed to be endemic.   
 Remarks: This aquatic species has the largest conecased larva, easily distinguished from the sympatric bugle-cased larva of H. eepawai (see Fig. 14A), also restricted to the Kawaikoi stream.
description: Published as part of Schmitz, Patrick & Rubinoff, Daniel, 2011, The Hawaiian amphibious caterpillar guild: new species of Hyposmocoma (Lepidoptera: Cosmopterigidae) confirm distinct aquatic invasions and complex speciation patterns, pp. 15-42 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 162 (1) on pages 25-26, DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2010.00676.x, http://zenodo.org/record/5440227