Scientific name: Megalagrion xanthomelas

USFWS Status: Candidate.

Distribution: Oahu, Lanai. Molokai, Hawaii

Map: [ click here ]

Until its rediscovery in a semi-urban area of Honolulu in 1994, this species was thought to have been extirpated from Oahu. Currently, it is known on Oahu from only a single population. Stream surveys throughout the main Hawaiian Islands have determined that the extent of the distribution of this species is restricted to populations on Hawaii, Lanai, Molokai, and Oahu. A biological study of the Oahu population was made (Evenhuis et al.1995) that indicated the number of individuals at the site at any one time ranged between 20 and 100. Normally a lowland species, it has been found as high as 3,000 feet on Lanai.

Photo by David Preston

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This page last revised 9 February 1997 by nle