Hyposmocoma
Hawai'i is an isolated island chain in the middle of the Pacific ocean. This makes it the perfect site for study of evolution and adaptive radiation. The Drosophila "fruit flies" are a well-known example. Another lesser-known but perhaps equally diverse genus of moths, Hyposmocoma, are nearly undocumented in literature. Our phylogenetic studies are intended to remediate this discrepancy. Our work with H. molluscivora illustrates how little is known about these lepidopterans.
Two students, Daniel Nitta and Talon Tengan, are working on this project.