i L i n d . n e t

With rumblings of a palace coup in the air yesterday at the State Capitol, the first action turned out to be across at Iolani Palace where one of several groups claiming to be the heir of the Hawaiian kingdom took over the palace grounds. I had a camera with me, but no reader to transfer the photos, so yesterday’s post contained no pictures. I’ll remedy that today with a collection of photos, some taken about 10 a.m. with others just as they opened the gates and ended the occupation about 2 p.m. (just click on the photo for more). And here’s a short video. They had just unchained the gate between the capitol and the palace, so I turned my little Canon G9 to video and happened to be there as two sheriffs removed the “No Trespassing” sign.

Now, back at the capitol, the attempt to oust House Speaker Calvin Say is no longer a secret, with Derrick DePledge noting it in the Advertiser’s Capitol Notebook blog and Malia Zimmerman at Hawaii Reporter.

This is one of those situations where I felt my position in a House office gave me access to information that I couldn’t blog about. Although not involved in the plotting, staff have generally been aware of what’s been going on.

I have to say that I’m somewhat disappointed that the minority of Democrats would seriously be looking at a bipartisan coup going into an election season. It’s seems to me that it is something of an admission that they’ve failed, for whatever reason, in convincing enough of their colleagues of the desirability of a reorganization.

In any case, with news of the attempted coup in play, it’s either going to be fireworks or fizzle this morning when the House session convenes.

About that bug pictured here on Monday…(See it here). My query to the Bishop Museum’s “Ask a Scientist” drew this reply:

Actually it’s a beetle, family Oedemeridae. The species is probably the toddy beetle, Ananca bicolor (Faimaire, 1849), but there are 4 other less common species in Hawaii. The larvae are predators in rotting wood; adults feed on nectar, and are commonly attracted to lights. There is an interesting story on the name. When Toddy (fermented coconut sap) used to be a popular drink, these beetles, which are attracted to fermenting liquids, would often drown in the sap buckets. Their poisonous secretions, normally used to ward off predators, dissolved in the alcohol giving the drink considerably extra PUNCH. Bottoms up!

Frank Howarth
Entomology
Bishop Museum