Tag Archives: Campsicnemus hawaiiensis

Campsicnemus hawaiiensis Hardy & Delfinado

Hawaiian Spur-winged Long-legged Fly (Campsicnemus hawaiiensis 

The Hawaiian Spur-winged Long-legged Fly was described in 1974, it is known only from the type specimens that had been collected in 1972 and 1973.  

The species reached a body length of about 0,15 cm, the highly reduced wings were spur-like and only about 0,11 cm long.  

The Hawaiian Spur-winged Long-legged Fly inhabited several kipuka [a vegetated ‘island’ on an otherwise barren lava flow] along the Saddle Road on the Mauna Loa lava flows on Big Island, Hawaiian Islands.  

The species was never found since the type collection was made and is very likely extinct, the reasons may be found in the presence of feral pigs, which root in soft earth and disturb the forest floor leaf litter, thus may have had an adverse effect on the populations of this and other insect species. [1]  

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References:  

[1] Neal L. Evenhuis: Review of flightless Dolichopodidae (Diptera) in the Hawaiian Islands. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 53: 1-29. 1997  

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edited: 02.04.2018