Clermontia fauriei (Haha`aiakamanu)
Campanulaceae
Endemic
This small, delicate tree has a white, sticky latex sap. This may limit its herbivores, which seem restricted to the leaf miner Carposina sp.1, and the endemic noctuid Aumakua omaomao, which cuts discs from the plant and allows the sap to drain before eating - see picture of feeding damage below:
Lepidoptera collected from this plant in the Alaka`i Swamp:
Although several times I collected caterpillars in the Scotorythra complex off this plant, they never survived (even to one molt, I think). I believe they were there inadvertantly, because the latex of the plants in this family require specialized feeding. Hyposmocoma are case-bearing grazers.
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Maintained by: Laurie Henneman
(M.L.Henneman@bris.ac.uk),
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol