Chris Johns did not know what to expect when he went to Hawaii in April. What he found was 15 species of moth previously thought to be extinct.
Johns traveled to the Aloha State in an attempt to learn more about the Philodoria genus of moths, but wandering around the forest, he said, he didn’t know what to expect.
“It was a fabulous experience,” said the 25-year-old UF graduate student in the entomology and nematology department. “At that point, we didn’t know what we were finding.”
While living in a pineapple field for about a month, Johns would search for signs of the moths during the day — sometimes using a helicopter to get to remote areas.
Working with his adviser, Florida Museum of Natural History curator Akito Kawahara, Johns said the two became the first people to research the Philodoria genus since 1940.
Johns said during the first trip, he was just hoping to find that some of the insects were still in existence. The research was funded by grants and some of their personal money.
Kawahara said Johns is a hard worker, and he has helped tremendously with the research that has been done so far. He said Johns’ experience working in Hawaii and his knowledge of plants and conservation made him the perfect person to partner with.
A version of this story ran on page 3 on 11/22/2013 under the headline "UF student finds moths in Hawaii"
