The summits
of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea reach an altitude of nearly 14,000
feet. Summit areas receive almost no rainfall and experience
great daily variation in temperature, which often drops below
freezing at night. Under such harsh conditions, only hardy lichens,
mosses, and scattered grasses can survive. However, even areas
that appear barren and without vegetation may support a community
of native invertebrates, such as the wekiu bug, which survives
on insects blown to the summit from lower elevations by strong
winds.
 The
wekiu bug's black body absorbs the warmth of the sun and also blocks
out the sun's harsh rays. It has long black legs to hold it off
the cold ground and it takes advantage of warm places. Unlike its
close relatives which have wings and can fly, the wekiu bug is wingless
and flightless. By being flightless, it can conserve its energy
to live in such a harsh climate. |
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The closest
relatives of the wekiu bug are seed eaters, but the wekiu is
a predator. It has adapted to sipping the body fluids of dead
and nearly dead insects that are blown up to the barren slopes
of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island. The wekiu bug is
most active during the summer months when the mountain snows
are melting. It goes to the wet rock zones of melting snow to
get water.
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