Located in an archipelago comprised of the volcanic Hawaiian Island chain, the state of Hawaii consists entirely of islands and the flora and fauna exhibit a high degree of endemism. The “3 W’s” Wind, Waves and Wings used to be the only way to get to Hawaii before humans starting bringing organism with them. The waves transported coconuts, swimming animals and animals caught on floating objects to the island, the wind brought airborn seeds and tiny organisms and the wings, I.E. the birds and the insects, could arrive at their own accord and would sometimes carry stowaways like nuts, seeds and parasites.
Hawaii is located rough¶y 4000km (2400 miles) from the nearest continental shore and is therefore the most isolated group of islands on the planet. The main island is young in geological terms only 10 million years but there where other islands in the are before that and the colonization of the area by plant and animals had allready started when the main island was formed. Many submerged banks and coral atolls in the area are remnants of these ancient peaks.
The reasons that Hawaii has so many endemic species is the fact that it located so far away from other areas, this works as a biological filter as most animal populations can be traced back to a low number of ancestors that found their way to the island, sometimes only one or two specimens. This means a very small gene pool with make it easy for new species to develop as every mutation can get a large effect on the entire population.
Birds are often among the first larger animals to find new Islands due to their ability to fly. Some of the birds that find a new land mass will chose to settle there and over time develop into a destinct species if they have limited contact with other specimens of the same species. This is as an example where you find the Hawaiian duck (Anas wyvilliana), Hawaiian Goose (Branta sandvicensis), Hawaiian Petrel (Pterodroma sandwichensis) and Hawaiian Hawk (Buteo solitarius). Their names in the local language are Koloa Maoli, Nene, Ua u, and Io, respectively.
One example of the many tropical Hawaiian flowers Endemic to the islands is Hibiscus brackenridgei, the official state flower of Hawaii. It is known as Ma’o hau hele in the local language and can be found in shrub lands and dry forrest areas below an elevation of 800 meters (2600ft). It is present on all the main islands except Ni’ihau and Kaho’olawe is somewhat uncommon and can be hard to find. The yelow flowers are large with a maroon center and grows in cluster at the end of branches allthough it is possible to find flowers growing singly as well.
Among the spiders and insects that have managed to colonize Hawaii you will find the snail eating caterpillar Hyposmocoma molluscivora, the happy faced spider Theridion grallator, and the tree-living snail Achatinella apexfulva. Hyposmocoma molluscivora is a moth whose larvae use silk to capture snails before crawling into their shells and eating them alive. This species is endemic to Maui and is known to make a silk case which it decorates with the shell of the snails it has eaten, it has been suggested that this might be to hide from their prey.
