of the year, but generally peak in spring months. Distribution The Kamehameha butterfly occurs on all four of the major Hawaiian Islands: Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, Maui, and the Big Island, as well as on Lānaʻi. However, it is now absent from much of its former range due to decline of native forest habitat, necessary indigenous host plants, and widespread predation from non-native species. Conservation efforts such as the Hawai’i Invertebrate Program (HIP), and local projects operated by the Division of Forestry and Wildlife, continue to rear and attempt to maintain wild populations of this butterfly on O'ahu and the Big Island. Today, most sightings occur in high elevation damp forest, such as that within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, Mokulēia Forest Reserve, and Waimea Canyon State Park. Taxonomy It is named after the royal House of Kamehameha; the last king of this lineage, Kamehameha V, died in 1872. The common name is taken from the specific name, tameamea, an old-fashioned and partially wrong transcription of "Kamehameha". The Hawaiian language has no strict distinction between the voiceless alveolar plosive and voiceless velar plosive; use varies from island to island, but today, "k" is used as the standard transliteration. The voiceless glottal transition "h" is distinct and should always be pronounced - for example, "aloha" is correct whereas "aloa" is a wrong pronunciation. Thus, while "Tamehameha" would be a legitimate transcription (though considered old-fashioned on most islands), "Tameamea" is not. References External links Vanessa (butterfly) Insects of Hawaii Endemic fauna of Hawaii Butterflies of Oceania Symbols of Hawaii Butterflies described in 1878