Aglycyderini
Encyclopedia
Aglycyderini are a tribe
of belids, primitive weevil
s of the family
Belidae
. Like in other belids, their antenna
e are straight, not elbowed as in the true weevils (Curculionidae
). They occur only on the Pacific Islands
and in the Macaronesia
n region..
of adult Aglycyderini is very short compared to the average belid and attaches exactly symmetrically at the tip of the head; at first glance, do not look "snouted" but merely somewhat long-headed. Viewed in profile, the head is flat-sided and almost triangular in males, and somewhat swollen and rounded in females. The prementum is large and prevents the maxilla
e from being seen from below. The sternite of the mesothorax
is slightly convex and extends to between the midlegs in a smooth inward curve. That tarsus
, lacking the first segment, is pseudotrimerous. The outer edges of the second tarsal segment are rounded. In females, the ninth tergite is changed into a thin membrane. Intestinally, they show well-developed proventricular blades with sharp external ridges, and a hindgut
with rectal loop.
, though Proterhinus has more than 165 species
courtesy of fulminant adaptive radiation
in the Hawaiian islands
. The genera do not differ very much and the Aglycyderini cannot be divided into subtribes. And though Aglycyderes seems to be the most distinct, the relationship between the genera is not all too well resolved.
Often, the Aglycyderini are treated as a distinct subfamily Aglycyderinae. Sometimes, this is due to the Oxycoryninae
being treated as a family of their own rather than as a part of the Belidae. Other authors treat them as a subfamily of the Belidae. However, they share many traits with the Metrioxenini
and are thus better treated as one of the three main lineages of the Oxycoryninae. The fossil record of the Metrioxenini shows that they were well distinct by the mid-Paleogene
, about 50 million years ago (mya). The belids as a whole are of Jurassic
origin, and the Aglycyderini must thus have evolve
d in the Late Cretaceous
or perhaps Paleocene
, roughly some 100-60 mya.
in the Canary Islands
and one in nearby Morocco
. Aralius has one named species in New Zealand
and one named and two known but undescribed species in New Caledonia
. Proterhinus with its 167 or so known species is found mainly in the Hawaiian Islands
. Three of its species are found on the Marquesas Islands
, three others in the neighboring Society
and Austral Islands
(and several undescribed ones are known from the latter group), and one from Phoenix Island
between the Marquesas and Hawaii. Another undescribed species has been reported from Fiji
. Finally, Proterhinus samoae is an originally Samoa
n species that feeds on Coconut Palm
s (Cocos nucifera) and has been widely dispersed to coconut plantations across Melanesia
, Micronesia
and Polynesia
.
It is not clear why there are no Aglycyderini in Australia
, and though their distribution looks clearly relict
ual, this does not answer the question how these weevils should have arrived in the Macaronesia
n region: there is no record of them from the more than 15000 km (9,320.6 mi) between Morocco
and Micronesia.
e like those of other Belidae feed on the wood and fruits of diseased or dying plants or on deadwood; they tend to avoid healthy plants. Aglycyderes larvae feed on the dead wood of spurge
s (Euphorbia, Euphorbiaceae
). Aralius larvae eat deadwood of Pseudopanax
(Araliaceae
). The larvae of most Proterhinus also live on deadwood (some are leaf miner
s), but are found on a wide range of plants, unusual for belids which tend to have coevolved with their host plants since the Mesozoic
.
There is no clear opinion of the host plants of the ancestral Aglycyderini, but their present-day host plants suggests that they were more likely than not rather advanced eudicots. This also would support the view that the Aglycyderini evolved not in the Jurassic or Early Cretaceous, and consequently justify their treatment as tribe of the Oxycoryninae.
s and terpenoid
s) the beetles must overcome. It stands to note however that some of the plant families that are more noxious to herbivore
s - like Lamiaceae
(labiates) or Solanaceae
(nightshades) - are missing despite being technically available. On the other hand, the Rubiaceae
(which are usually rich in alkaloids) are the family with the most recorded host genera. Classification of the host plants is from Plant Systematics: A Phylogenetic Approach.
Fern
s:
Monocots:
Dicots - Caryophyllidae
Dicots - Rosidae
Dicots - Asteridae
The most commonly recorded hostplants are from the genera Alyxia, Broussaisia, Euphorbia and Psychotria.
Tribe (biology)
In biology, a tribe is a taxonomic rank between family and genus. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes.Some examples include the tribes: Canini, Acalypheae, Hominini, Bombini, and Antidesmeae.-See also:* Biological classification* Rank...
of belids, primitive weevil
Weevil
A weevil is any beetle from the Curculionoidea superfamily. They are usually small, less than , and herbivorous. There are over 60,000 species in several families, mostly in the family Curculionidae...
s of the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Belidae
Belidae
Belidae is a family of weevils, called belids or primitive weevils because they have straight antennae, unlike the "true weevils" or Curculionidae which have elbowed antennae...
. Like in other belids, their antenna
Antenna (biology)
Antennae in biology have historically been paired appendages used for sensing in arthropods. More recently, the term has also been applied to cilium structures present in most cell types of eukaryotes....
e are straight, not elbowed as in the true weevils (Curculionidae
Curculionidae
Curculionidae is the family of the "true" weevils . It was formerly recognized in 1998 as the largest of any animal family, with over 40,000 species described worldwide at that time...
). They occur only on the Pacific Islands
Pacific Islands
The Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands are also sometimes collectively called Oceania, although Oceania is sometimes defined as also including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago....
and in the Macaronesia
Macaronesia
Macaronesia is a modern collective name for several groups of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean near Europe and North Africa belonging to three countries: Portugal, Spain, and Cape Verde...
n region..
Description
The Aglycyderini have several highly distinctive characters as adults: The rostrumRostrum (anatomy)
The term rostrum is used for a number of unrelated structures in different groups of animals:*In crustaceans, the rostrum is the forward extension of the carapace in front of the eyes....
of adult Aglycyderini is very short compared to the average belid and attaches exactly symmetrically at the tip of the head; at first glance, do not look "snouted" but merely somewhat long-headed. Viewed in profile, the head is flat-sided and almost triangular in males, and somewhat swollen and rounded in females. The prementum is large and prevents the maxilla
Maxilla
The maxilla is a fusion of two bones along the palatal fissure that form the upper jaw. This is similar to the mandible , which is also a fusion of two halves at the mental symphysis. Sometimes The maxilla (plural: maxillae) is a fusion of two bones along the palatal fissure that form the upper...
e from being seen from below. The sternite of the mesothorax
Mesothorax
The mesothorax is the middle of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the second pair of legs. Its principal sclerites are the mesonotum , the mesosternum , and the mesopleuron on each side...
is slightly convex and extends to between the midlegs in a smooth inward curve. That tarsus
Arthropod leg
The arthropod leg is a form of jointed appendage of arthropods, usually used for walking. Many of the terms used for arthropod leg segments are of Latin origin, and may be confused with terms for bones: coxa , trochanter , femur, tibia, tarsus, ischium, metatarsus, carpus, dactylus ,...
, lacking the first segment, is pseudotrimerous. The outer edges of the second tarsal segment are rounded. In females, the ninth tergite is changed into a thin membrane. Intestinally, they show well-developed proventricular blades with sharp external ridges, and a hindgut
Hindgut
The hindgut is the posterior part of the alimentary canal. In mammals, it includes the distal third of the transverse colon and the splenic flexure, the descending colon, sigmoid colon and rectum.-Blood flow:...
with rectal loop.
Systematics and evolution
The Aglycyderini contain a mere 3 living generaGenera
Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...
, though Proterhinus has more than 165 species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
courtesy of fulminant adaptive radiation
Adaptive radiation
In evolutionary biology, adaptive radiation is the evolution of ecological and phenotypic diversity within a rapidly multiplying lineage. Starting with a recent single ancestor, this process results in the speciation and phenotypic adaptation of an array of species exhibiting different...
in the Hawaiian islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
. The genera do not differ very much and the Aglycyderini cannot be divided into subtribes. And though Aglycyderes seems to be the most distinct, the relationship between the genera is not all too well resolved.
Often, the Aglycyderini are treated as a distinct subfamily Aglycyderinae. Sometimes, this is due to the Oxycoryninae
Oxycoryninae
Oxycoryninae are subfamily of primitive weevils of the family Belidae, but sometimes treated as a distinct family Oxycorynidae. Like in other belids, their antennae are straight, not elbowed as in the true weevils , and their larvae feed on the wood of diseased or dying plants or on deadwood or...
being treated as a family of their own rather than as a part of the Belidae. Other authors treat them as a subfamily of the Belidae. However, they share many traits with the Metrioxenini
Metrioxenini
Metrioxenini are a tribe of belids, primitive weevils of the family Belidae, containing about 30 species. They are only found in two widely separated areas, Southeast Asia extending to Indonesia, and South Africa...
and are thus better treated as one of the three main lineages of the Oxycoryninae. The fossil record of the Metrioxenini shows that they were well distinct by the mid-Paleogene
Paleogene
The Paleogene is a geologic period and system that began 65.5 ± 0.3 and ended 23.03 ± 0.05 million years ago and comprises the first part of the Cenozoic Era...
, about 50 million years ago (mya). The belids as a whole are of Jurassic
Jurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...
origin, and the Aglycyderini must thus have evolve
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
d in the Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...
or perhaps Paleocene
Paleocene
The Paleocene or Palaeocene, the "early recent", is a geologic epoch that lasted from about . It is the first epoch of the Palaeogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era...
, roughly some 100-60 mya.
Distribution
The distribution of the Aglycyderini is very puzzling. Aglycyderes contains one speciesSpecies
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
in the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
and one in nearby Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. Aralius has one named species in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and one named and two known but undescribed species in New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
. Proterhinus with its 167 or so known species is found mainly in the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
. Three of its species are found on the Marquesas Islands
Marquesas Islands
The Marquesas Islands enana and Te Fenua `Enata , both meaning "The Land of Men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southern Pacific Ocean. The Marquesas are located at 9° 00S, 139° 30W...
, three others in the neighboring Society
Society Islands
The Society Islands are a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean. They are politically part of French Polynesia. The archipelago is generally believed to have been named by Captain James Cook in honor of the Royal Society, the sponsor of the first British scientific survey of the islands;...
and Austral Islands
Austral Islands
The Austral Islands are the southernmost group of islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the South Pacific. Geographically, they consist of two separate archipelagos, namely in the northwest the Tubuai Islands consisting of the Îles Maria, Rimatara, Rurutu, Tubuai...
(and several undescribed ones are known from the latter group), and one from Phoenix Island
Phoenix Island
Phoenix Island , dubbed the Oriental Dubai, is an artificial archipelago forming an island resort currently under construction in Sanya, Hainan, China.The island is located in Sanya Bay, and is long by wide and covers a total area of...
between the Marquesas and Hawaii. Another undescribed species has been reported from Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
. Finally, Proterhinus samoae is an originally Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
n species that feeds on Coconut Palm
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
s (Cocos nucifera) and has been widely dispersed to coconut plantations across Melanesia
Melanesia
Melanesia is a subregion of Oceania extending from the western end of the Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Fiji. The region comprises most of the islands immediately north and northeast of Australia...
, Micronesia
Micronesia
Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It is distinct from Melanesia to the south, and Polynesia to the east. The Philippines lie to the west, and Indonesia to the southwest....
and Polynesia
Polynesia
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
.
It is not clear why there are no Aglycyderini in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and though their distribution looks clearly relict
Relict
A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon.* In biology a relict is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas....
ual, this does not answer the question how these weevils should have arrived in the Macaronesia
Macaronesia
Macaronesia is a modern collective name for several groups of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean near Europe and North Africa belonging to three countries: Portugal, Spain, and Cape Verde...
n region: there is no record of them from the more than 15000 km (9,320.6 mi) between Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
and Micronesia.
Ecology
As far as is known, their larvaLarva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
e like those of other Belidae feed on the wood and fruits of diseased or dying plants or on deadwood; they tend to avoid healthy plants. Aglycyderes larvae feed on the dead wood of spurge
Spurge
Euphorbia is a genus of plants belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. Consisting of 2008 species, Euphorbia is one of the most diverse genera in the plant kingdom, exceeded possibly only by Senecio. Members of the family and genus are sometimes referred to as Spurges...
s (Euphorbia, Euphorbiaceae
Euphorbiaceae
Euphorbiaceae, the Spurge family are a large family of flowering plants with 300 genera and around 7,500 species. Most are herbs, but some, especially in the tropics, are also shrubs or trees. Some are succulent and resemble cacti....
). Aralius larvae eat deadwood of Pseudopanax
Pseudopanax
Pseudopanax is a small genus of 12–20 species of evergreen plants, the majority of which are endemic to New Zealand, although they also occur in Tasmania and some plants from South America have at times been included in this genus. Flowers of the genus occur in terminal umbels.-Natural...
(Araliaceae
Araliaceae
Araliaceae is a family of flowering plants, also known as the Aralia family or Ivy family. The family includes 254 species of trees, shrubs, lianas and perennial herbaceous plants into 2 subfamilies...
). The larvae of most Proterhinus also live on deadwood (some are leaf miner
Leaf miner
Leaf miner is a term used to describe the larvae of many different species of insect which live in and eat the leaf tissue of plants. The vast majority of leaf-mining insects are moths , sawflies and flies , though some beetles and wasps also exhibit this behavior.Like Woodboring beetles, leaf...
s), but are found on a wide range of plants, unusual for belids which tend to have coevolved with their host plants since the Mesozoic
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic era is an interval of geological time from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. It is often referred to as the age of reptiles because reptiles, namely dinosaurs, were the dominant terrestrial and marine vertebrates of the time...
.
There is no clear opinion of the host plants of the ancestral Aglycyderini, but their present-day host plants suggests that they were more likely than not rather advanced eudicots. This also would support the view that the Aglycyderini evolved not in the Jurassic or Early Cretaceous, and consequently justify their treatment as tribe of the Oxycoryninae.
Recorded host plants of Proterhinus
As can be seen below, the host plants of Proterhinus are more limited by what is available on their remote island homes than other factors like what chemical defences (like alkaloidAlkaloid
Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that contain mostly basic nitrogen atoms. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Also some synthetic compounds of similar structure are attributed to alkaloids...
s and terpenoid
Terpenoid
The terpenoids , sometimes called isoprenoids, are a large and diverse class of naturally occurring organic chemicals similar to terpenes, derived from five-carbon isoprene units assembled and modified in thousands of ways. Most are multicyclic structures that differ from one another not only in...
s) the beetles must overcome. It stands to note however that some of the plant families that are more noxious to herbivore
Herbivore
Herbivores are organisms that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eat plant-based foods. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which an organism principally eats autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in...
s - like Lamiaceae
Lamiaceae
The mints, taxonomically known as Lamiaceae or Labiatae, are a family of flowering plants. They have traditionally been considered closely related to Verbenaceae, but in the 1990s, phylogenetic studies suggested that many genera classified in Verbenaceae belong instead in Lamiaceae...
(labiates) or Solanaceae
Solanaceae
Solanaceae are a family of flowering plants that include a number of important agricultural crops as well as many toxic plants. The name of the family comes from the Latin Solanum "the nightshade plant", but the further etymology of that word is unclear...
(nightshades) - are missing despite being technically available. On the other hand, the Rubiaceae
Rubiaceae
The Rubiaceae is a family of flowering plants, variously called the coffee family, madder family, or bedstraw family. The group contains many commonly known plants, including the economically important coffee , quinine , and gambier , and the horticulturally valuable madder , west indian jasmine ,...
(which are usually rich in alkaloids) are the family with the most recorded host genera. Classification of the host plants is from Plant Systematics: A Phylogenetic Approach.
Fern
Fern
A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...
s:
- CibotiaceaeCibotiumCibotium is a genus of eleven species of tropical tree fern—subject to much confusion and revision—distributed fairly narrowly in Hawaii , Southeast Asia , and the cloud forests of Central America and Mexico...
: hāpuu (Cibotium) - DryopteridaceaeDryopteridaceaeDryopteridaceae, is a family of leptosporangiate ferns in the order Polypodiales. They are known colloquially as the wood ferns. They comprise about 1700 species and have a cosmopolitan distribution. They may be terrestrial, epipetric, hemiepiphytic, or epiphytic. Many are cultivated as...
: DryopterisDryopterisDryopteris , commonly called wood ferns, male ferns, and buckler ferns, is a genus of about 250 species of ferns with distribution in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in eastern Asia. Many of the species have stout, slowly creeping rootstocks that form a crown,...
Monocots:
- AsparagaceaeAsparagaceaeAsparagaceae is the botanical name of a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots.In earlier classification systems, the species involved were often treated as belonging to the family Liliaceae...
/RuscaceaeRuscaceaeNolinoideae is a monocot subfamily of the family Asparagaceae in the APG III system of 2009. It was previously treated as a separate family, Ruscaceae s.l...
: PleomelePleomele (genus)Pleomele is a genus of flowering plants, sometimes placed in the genus Dracaena. In the APG III classification system, both genera are placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Nolinoideae... - ArecaceaeArecaceaeArecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...
: Coconut PalmCoconutThe coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
(Cocos), louluPritchardiaThe genus Pritchardia consists of between 24-40 species of fan palms found on tropical Pacific Ocean islands in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Tuamotus, and Hawaii. The generic name honours William Thomas Pritchard , a British consul at Fiji.-Description:These palms vary in height, ranging from...
(Pritchardia) - LiliaceaeLiliaceaeThe Liliaceae, or the lily family, is a family of monocotyledons in the order Liliales. Plants in this family have linear leaves, mostly with parallel veins but with several having net venation , and flower arranged in threes. Several have bulbs, while others have rhizomes...
: AsteliaAsteliaAstelia is a genus of rhizomatous tufted perennials in the family Asteliaceae which are native to the Pacific region as well as the Falkland Islands, Réunion and Mauritius...
Dicots - Caryophyllidae
Caryophyllidae
Caryophyllidae is a botanical name at the rank of subclass. At the moment there is no complete consensus about what orders it includes, except that it presumably contains the order Caryophyllales...
- AmaranthaceaeAmaranthaceaeThe flowering plant family Amaranthaceae, the Amaranth family, contains about 176 genera and 2,400 species.- Description :Most of these species are herbs or subshrubs; very few are trees or climbers. Some species are succulent....
: CharpentieraCharpentieraCharpentiera is a flowering plant genus in the pigweed family, Amaranthaceae. It consists of five species endemic to Hawaii, where they are known as pāpala, and one species found only on the island of Tubuai in the Austral Islands... - NyctaginaceaeNyctaginaceaeNyctaginaceae, the Four O'Clock Family, is a family of around 33 genera and 290 species of flowering plants, widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions, with a few representatives in temperate regions...
: catchbird treesPisoniaPisonia is a genus of flowering plants in the four o'clock flower family, Nyctaginaceae. It was named for Dutch physician and naturalist Willem Piso . Certain species in this genus are known as Catchbirdtrees because their sticky seeds reportedly trap small birds...
(Pisonia)
Dicots - Rosidae
Rosidae
Under the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature , Rosidae is a botanical name at the rank of subclass. Circumscription of the subclass will vary with the taxonomic system being used; the only requirement being that it includes the family Rosaceae....
- CelastraceaeCelastraceaeThe Celastraceae , is a family of about 90-100 genera and 1,300 species of vines, shrubs and small trees, belonging to the order Celastrales...
: PerrottetiaPerrottetiaPerrottetia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Dipentodontaceae. The fifteen species it contains occur in Asia from China to Australia, and in the Americas from Mexico to Peru.-Selected species:* Perrottetia excelsa Lund.... - CunoniaceaeCunoniaceaeThe Cunoniaceae is a family of 26 genera and about 350 species of woody plants in the Antarctic flora, with many laurifolia species with glossy leaves endemic to laurel forest habitat. The family is native to Australia, New Caledonia, New Guinea, New Zealand, southern South America, the Mascarene...
: WeinmanniaWeinmanniaWeinmannia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cunoniaceae. The genus includes approximately 150 species of canopy trees and shrubs, ranging across the montane tropics and temperate New Zealand and Chile.... - ElaeocarpaceaeElaeocarpaceaeElaeaocarpaceae is a family of flowering plants. The family approximately contains 605 species of trees and shrubs in 12 genera. The largest genera are Elaeocarpus, with about 350 species, and Sloanea, with about 150....
: ElaeocarpusElaeocarpusElaeocarpus is a genus of tropical and subtropical evergreen trees and shrubs. The approximately 350 species are distributed from Madagascar in the west through India, Southeast Asia, Malaysia, southern China, and Japan, through Australia to New Zealand, Fiji, and Hawaii in the east. The islands of... - EuphorbiaceaeEuphorbiaceaeEuphorbiaceae, the Spurge family are a large family of flowering plants with 300 genera and around 7,500 species. Most are herbs, but some, especially in the tropics, are also shrubs or trees. Some are succulent and resemble cacti....
: AleuritesAleuritesAleurites is a small arborescent genus of flowering plants in the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, the Pacific and South America, belonging to the spurge family Euphorbiaceae.These monoecious, evergreen trees are perennials or semi-perennials...
, spurges/akoko (Euphorbia) - FabaceaeFabaceaeThe Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, is a large and economically important family of flowering plants. The group is the third largest land plant family, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with 730 genera and over 19,400 species...
: acaciaAcaciaAcacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...
s (Acacia) - MalvaceaeMalvaceaeMalvaceae, or the mallow family, is a family of flowering plants containing over 200 genera with close to 2,300 species. Judd & al. Well known members of this family include okra, jute and cacao...
: HibiscadelphusHibiscadelphusHibiscadelphus is a genus of Malvaceae from the subfamily Malvoideae endemic to Hawaii. It was known by the Native Hawaiians as hau kuahiwi which means "mountain Hibiscus". The Latin name means "brother of Hibiscus"...
, WaltheriaWaltheriaWaltheria is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is sometimes placed in Sterculiaceae. The name honours German botanist Augustin Friedrich Walther .-Selected species:*Waltheria calcicola Urb. – Raichie... - MyrtaceaeMyrtaceaeThe Myrtaceae or Myrtle family are a family of dicotyledon plants, placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, clove, guava, feijoa, allspice, and eucalyptus belong here. All species are woody, with essential oils, and flower parts in multiples of four or five...
: MetrosiderosMetrosiderosMetrosideros is a genus of approximately 50 trees, shrubs, and vines native to the islands of the Pacific Ocean, from the Philippines to New Zealand and including the Bonin Islands, Polynesia, and Melanesia, with an anomalous outlier in South Africa. Most of the tree forms are small, but some are...
, SyzygiumSyzygiumSyzygium is a genus of flowering plants that belongs to the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. The genus comprises about 1100 species, and has a native range that extends from Africa and Madagascar through southern Asia east through the Pacific... - PhyllanthaceaePhyllanthaceaePhyllanthaceae is a family of flowering plants in the eudicot order Malpighiales. It is most closely related to the family Picrodendraceae. The Phyllanthaceae are most numerous in the tropics, with many in the south temperate zone, and a few ranging as far north as the middle of the north temperate...
: AntidesmaAntidesmaAntidesma is a species of tropical plant in the Phyllanthaceae. This is a variable plant which may be short and shrubby or tall and erect, approaching 30 meters in height.It has large oval shaped leathery evergreen leaves up to about 20 centimeters long and seven wide. The flowers have a strong,... - RutaceaeRutaceaeRutaceae, commonly known as the rue or citrus family, is a family of flowering plants, usually placed in the order Sapindales.Species of the family generally have flowers that divide into four or five parts, usually with strong scents...
: doughwood/alani (Melicope), prickly-ashZanthoxylumZanthoxylum is a genus of about 250 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs in the citrus or rue family, Rutaceae, native to warm temperate and subtropical areas worldwide. Common names include Prickly-ash and Hercules' Club.The fruit of several species are used to make the spice...
es (Zanthoxylum) - ThymelaeaceaeThymelaeaceaeThymelaeaceae is a cosmopolitan family of flowering plants composed of 50 genera and 898 species. It was established in 1789 by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu.Thymelaeaceae is in the order Malvales...
: WikstroemiaWikstroemiaWikstroemia is a genus of 55-70 species of flowering shrubs and small trees in the mezereon family, Thymelaeaceae.-Medicinal uses:Wikstroemia indica is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine.-Species:... - UrticaceaeUrticaceaeUrticaceae, or the nettle family, is a family of flowering plants. The family name comes from the genus Urtica . Urticaceae includes a number of well-known and useful plants, including the aforementioned nettles, Ramie , māmaki , and ajlai .The family includes approximately 2600 species, grouped...
: PipturusPipturusPipturus is a flowering plant genus in the nettle family, Urticaceae.-Selected species:* Pipturus albidus A.Gray ex H.Mann – Māmaki * Pipturus arborescens C.B.Rob., 1911...
Dicots - Asteridae
Asteridae
Asteridae is a clade of plants, known for their flowers. Asteridae has been ranked as a subclass, but this ranking has varied depending on the taxonomy being used...
- ApocynaceaeApocynaceaeThe Apocynaceae or dogbane family is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, and lianas.Many species are tall trees found in tropical rainforests, and most are from the tropics and subtropics, but some grow in tropical dry, xeric environments. There are also perennial herbs...
: AlyxiaAlyxiaAlyxia is an Australasian genus of flowering plant in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. It contains at present 106 species, but Alyxia stellata and A. tisserantii are very variable, might be cryptic species complexes, and are need of further study. It consists of shrubby, climbing or scrambling plants... - AraliaceaeAraliaceaeAraliaceae is a family of flowering plants, also known as the Aralia family or Ivy family. The family includes 254 species of trees, shrubs, lianas and perennial herbaceous plants into 2 subfamilies...
: olapaCheirodendronCheirodendron is a genus of flowering plant in the ivy family, Araliaceae. All six species in the genus are endemic to Polynesia. The five Hawaiian species are generally called ōlapa, and occur in wet forests on all major islands as well as some mesic forests, such as Kipuka...
(Cheirodendron), TetraplasandraTetraplasandraTetraplasandra is a genus of flowering plants in the ivy family, Araliaceae. It comprises seven species, all of which are endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.-Species:*Tetraplasandra flynnii Lowry & K.R.Wood... - AsteraceaeAsteraceaeThe Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...
: silverswordsArgyroxiphiumArgyroxiphium is a small genus of five species in the sunflower family, Asteraceae. Its members are known by the common name of silversword or greensword due to their long, narrow leaves and the silvery hairs on some species. It belongs to a larger radiation of over 50 species, including the...
(Argyroxiphium), bur-marigoldsBidensBidens is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It contains about 200 species. The common names beggarticks, black jack, bur-marigolds, stickseeds, tickseeds and tickseed sunflowers refer to the achene burrs on the seeds of this genus, most of which are barbed...
/kokoolau (Bidens) - GoodeniaceaeGoodeniaceaeGoodeniaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Asterales. It contains about 404 species in twelve genera. The family is distributed mostly in Australia, except for the genus Scaevola, which is pantropical...
: fan-flowersScaevolaScaevola is a genus of flowering plants in the Goodenia family, Goodeniaceae. It consists of more than 130 tropical species, with the center of diversity being Australia and Polynesia, including Hawaii....
/naupaka (Scaevola) - HydrangeaceaeHydrangeaceaeHydrangeaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Cornales, with a wide distribution in Asia and North America, and locally in southeastern Europe.-Overview:...
: kanawao (BroussaisiaBroussaisiaKanawao is a species of perennial flowering plant in the Hydrangea family, Hydrangeaceae, that is endemic to Hawaii. It belongs to a monotypic genus....
) - LobeliaceaeLobeliaceaeLobelioideae is a subfamily of the plant family Campanulaceae. It contains 32 genera, totalling about 1200 species. Some of the larger genera are Lobelia, Siphocampylus, Centropogon, Burmeistera and Cyanea....
: lobeliaLobeliaLobelia is a genus of flowering plant comprising 360–400 species, with a subcosmopolitan distribution primarily in tropical to warm temperate regions of the world, a few species extending into cooler temperate regions...
s (Lobelia) - MyrsinaceaeMyrsinaceaeMyrsinaceae, or the Myrsine family, is a rather large family from the order Ericales. It consists of 35 genera and about 1000 species....
: colicwoodMyrsineMyrsine is a genus of flowering plants, the nominate genus of the family Myrsinaceae. It is found nearly worldwide, primarily in tropical and subtropical areas...
/kōlea (Myrsine) - OleaceaeOleaceaeOleaceae are a family containing 24 extant genera and around 600 species of mesophytic shrubs, trees and occasionally vines. As shrubs, members of this family may be twine climbers, or scramblers.-Leaves:...
: osmanthusOsmanthusOsmanthus is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae, mostly native to warm temperate Asia but one species occurring in North America . It is sometimes included in Nestegis.They range in size from shrubs to small trees, 2-12 m tall...
es (Osmanthus) - RubiaceaeRubiaceaeThe Rubiaceae is a family of flowering plants, variously called the coffee family, madder family, or bedstraw family. The group contains many commonly known plants, including the economically important coffee , quinine , and gambier , and the horticulturally valuable madder , west indian jasmine ,...
: BobeaBobeaBobea is a genus of flowering plants in the coffee family, Rubiaceae. All species in this genus are endemic to Hawaii. . Bobea was named for Jean-Baptiste Bobe-Moreau by Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré in 1830 in his book Voyage de l'Uranie.The wood of Bobea is hard, wearable, and yellow. It was used...
, CoprosmaCoprosmaCoprosma is a genus of 108 species that are found in New Zealand , Hawaii , Borneo, Java, New Guinea, islands of the Pacific Ocean to Australia and the Juan Fernández Is. Many species are small shrubs with tiny evergreen leaves, but a few are small trees and have much larger leaves...
, Gouldia, PsychotriaPsychotriaPsychotria is a plant genus of 1900 species in the family Rubiaceae. Members of the genus are low trees in tropical forests. The distinction between Psychotria and the genus Cephaelis are not well known and many species were formerly placed there.... - ScrophulariaceaeScrophulariaceaeScrophulariaceae, the figwort family, are a family of flowering plants. The plants are annual or perennial herbs with flowers with bilateral or rarely radial symmetry. Members of the Scrophulariaceae have a cosmopolitan distribution, with the majority found in temperate areas, including...
: MyoporumMyoporumMyoporum is a genus of flowering plants in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae . There are about 32 species within the genus, which is spread from Mauritius, across Australia to the Pacific Islands and up to China....
The most commonly recorded hostplants are from the genera Alyxia, Broussaisia, Euphorbia and Psychotria.