Banza kauaiensis

Natural history and identification

Banza kauaiensis is an endemic Hawaiian katydid whose evolutionary relationships have been tested with DNA data. The 2006 analysis strongly supported a close relationship to B. parvula on Oʻahu. A later study explored recolonization of older islands as a possible explanation for the lineage’s history. That evolutionary inference should be distinguished from a directly observed migration, and neither phylogeny establishes the species’ current abundance or feeding plants on Kauaʻi.

Kauaʻi occurrence and evidence

Atlas occurrence category: Present. Modern Banza phylogeny identifies B. kauaiensis as the Kauaʻi species and sister to Oʻahu B. parvula.

Evidence limits

The cited observations describe the evidence currently available for this account. They do not establish a complete life history or a measured current Kauaʻi population trend.

Names and classification

Scientific name

Banza kauaiensis

Family

Tettigoniidae

Order

Orthoptera

Record type

species

Kauaʻi occurrence and status

Kauaʻi occurrence

Present

Origin

Endemic — Kauaʻi

Conservation status

Not assessed

Process and seasonal context

Seasonal description

Banza kauaiensis is an endemic Hawaiian katydid whose evolutionary relationships have been tested with DNA data.

Sources and further reading

• Modern Banza molecular phylogeny / Orthoptera Species File
• Natural history and identification — species source
• Natural history and identification — species source