Omiodes epicentra (O’ahu Swamp Leafroller Moth)

[sebbe67]

Oahu Swamp Hedyleptan Moth
(Omiodes epicentra)

syn. Hedylepta epicentra

This Hawaiian endemic has been considered historic by NatureServe and its predecessors since 1984 and appeared on the January 8, 1989 USFWS list as 3A ("persuasive evidence of extinction"). This species appears on the Bishop Museum Web Site for extinct insects (as of September 2003) with the last observed date given as 1900s. It is also considered historic (SH) by the Hawaii Natural Heritage Program. In consideration of input from Hawaii Natural Heritage Program and some consultation with Frank Howarth of the Bishop Museum, GH is retained, although this species might be extinct. The status of this species should be re-evaluated pending the results of on-going work by William Haines (University of Hawaii). Also Microlepidoptera specimens from the 1970s collected by Klaus Sattler and believed to be at the British Museum should be examined

[Melanie]

From Insects of Hawaii Volume 8 LEPIDOPTERA: PYRALOIDEA, pg 94 (Zimmerman, 1958)

Hedylepta epicentra (Meyrick), new combination (figs. 62, 64, 67).
Omiodes epicentra Meyrick, 1899:203. Swezey, 1907:29.
Phostria epicentra (Meyrick) Klima, 1939:131.
Endemic. Oahu (type locality: Waialua).
Hostplant: Sedge ?
Dr. Swezey once told me that according to Dr. Perkins, this species may have
been common in the early days in the swamps which no longer exist in the Kewalo-
Waikiki areas of Honolulu. In spite of careful search by Swezey, he never found
the species, which was collected only by Perkins. It may be extinct.

scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/7337

[Sebbe]

Total population size for Omiodes epicentra is unknown but this species has reportedly been rare since before the early 1900s (Swezey 1907). The entomologist R.C.L. Perkins reported that this species was common in the swamps around the Kewalo-Waikiki areas of Honolulu (Zimmerman 1958). These swamps no longer exist. O. Swezey, another prominent entomologist at the time, reportedly searched the area in the early 1900s for this species and never found it (Zimmerman 1958). It was likely very rare even then. This species has been listed as extinct several times, including by the Hawaiian Biological Society (Evenhuis 2002), the IUCN (2003), and Gagné (1982). In 2006, the IUCN assessment was changed from Extinct to Data Deficient because several other species of Omiodes listed as Extinct were rediscovered and it was thought that previous presumptions of extinction were premature (Haines et al. 2004). Since then, extensive surveys have taken place on all the main Hawaiian Islands, yet this species has not been found (Haines 2011). We can infer a small population size (0-49 mature individuals), if this species is in fact extant, because only such a limited population size would allow this species to evade detection for so long.

www.iucnredlist.org/species/44544/164008331#population

[koeiyabe]

explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.118052/Omiodes_epicentra

[Sebbe]

Patterns of extinction across Hawaiian Lepidoptera offer lessons from a diverse, neglected, and vulnerable endemic fauna.

Last recorded 1907.

www.researchgate.net/publication/384487192_Patterns_of_extinction_across_Hawaiian_Lepidoptera_offer_lessons_from_a_diverse_neglected_and_vulnerable_endemic_fauna