As the ancient Polynesians colonized the South Pacific, they brought with them a variety of plants known as “canoe plants.” These plants were essential for food, medicine, and daily life. Believed to have been carried in soil-filled gourds, these cultivars likely contained insect stowaways. Wynne and colleagues recently discovered 10 species believed to be endemic to Rapa Nui (Easter Island), including three species that may have been spread throughout Polynesia within the soil of canoe plants (read more about “the” canoe bug at Stylonisus manuvaka).
Jut Wynne and Polynesian naturalist Mahana Naumati Mamatui, sampling the littoral zone for marine crickets, Mangareva, Gambier Archipelago, French Polynesia.
Dr. Jut Wynne recounts his 1,655 nautical mile voyage across the South Pacific from Rapa Nui to Mangareva to explore the “Canoe Bug Hypothesis.” In 2024, Wynne made his sixth research trip to Rapa Nui to monitor 10 largely cave-restricted invertebrate species that he and colleagues first discovered in 2013. Afterward, he boarded the three-mast schooner Oosterschelde and set sail for Pitcairn and Mangareva islands. During the voyage, he sampled terrestrial invertebrates potentially riding the oceanic and air currents between islands. Upon reaching Pitcairn and Mangareva, he explored caves and coastal areas with the objective of searching for the elusive canoe bugs from Rapa Nui and potentially discovering new invertebrate species.
Distances and locations of two potential canoe bugs. The springtail, Lepidocyrtus olena, is presently known from Hawai’i and Rapa Nui, while the terrestrial isopod (or roly poly), Styloniscus manuvaka, occurs on Rapa Iti and Rapa Nui. A third potential canoe bug, Hawaiioscia rapui (another roly-poly species), which is not featured here, is known from both Rapa Nui and Motu Motiro Hiva, 415 km NNE of Rapa Nui.
Join Dr. Jut Wynne as he chronicles his epic 1,700-nautical-mile voyage on board the tall ship Oosterschelde, searching for elusive canoe bugs across the open sea and the remote islands of the South Pacific.
Board member, Adam Marsh, and lead paleontologist at Petrified National Forest, works with a team of scientists to uncover an approximately 300 million-year-old fossil skeleton discovered at Canyonlands National Park in Utah (June 2024)