Summary ³

The Kamehameha butterfly (Vanessa tameamea) is one of the two species of butterfly native to Hawaii (the other is Udara blackburni). The Hawaiian name is pulelehua. This is today a catch-all native term for all butterflies; its origin seems to be pulelo "to float" or "to undulate in the air" + lehua, a Metrosideros polymorpha flower: an animal that floats through the air, from one lehua to another. Alternatively, it is called lepelepe-o-Hina - roughly, "Hina's...

Sources and Credits

1. anonymous, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vanessa_tameamea1.jpg
2. (c) Forest & Kim Starr, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Starr_020925-0126_Metrosideros_polymorpha.jpg
3. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanessa_tameamea

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Butterflies and Moths of North America
• CUIC Insect Images
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants

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