Magnified projection of Coleotichus blackburniae, or koa bug, specimen from UH Insect Museum

Hawaiʻi’s largest native true bug is Coleotichus blackburniae, or the koa bug. It lives only on endemic koa and ʻaʻaliʻi trees.

The insect’s population is in decline in part due to a fly introduced to control agricultural pest stink bugs.

The mounted koa bug specimen pictured (and projected for a visiting school tour) is one of 225,000 insects in the University of Hawaiʻi Insect Museum. The collection includes native insects and agricultural pests used for insect identification and pest control, conservation, reserve land management and systematics-based research.

College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources Associate Professor of Entomology Daniel Rubinoff serves as director of the collection, which is just one of more than two dozen represented in the University of Hawai‘i Virtual Museum.

Photo by University of Hawai‘i Photographer R. David Beales.

Tags: College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, UH Manoa, Vol. 34 No. 2