Kamehameha butterfly eggs look like alien planets. The iridescent spheres have 12 immaculate ridges and hang shimmering on the undersides of māmaki leaves. If these splendid eggs were larger than poppy seeds, people would surely suspect they came from outer space. In fact, they’re as local as can be.

Hawai‘i boasts more than 6,000 endemic insect species: small but captivating creatures that evolved here in the islands and exist nowhere else. Among them are the joy-inducing happy-face spiders, a plethora of picture-wing flies, and a bizarre no-eyed big-eyed wolf spider that exists in only one volcanic cave. In addition to these marvels, Hawai‘i claims numerous native moths—but only two butterflies, or pulelehua in Hawaiian.

Butterflies are formidable fliers capable of migrating vast distances on the strength of their delicate, scaled wings. But the Pacific Ocean must be too great a moat to cross. In the several million years before humans arrived in Hawai‘i, only two butterfly species made the journey to the isolated archipelago and thrived. Whether these ancient wanderers blew in from Asia or North America remains a mystery. Over many generations, the pioneer lepidopterans transformed into wholly unique life forms.

Known as the koa butterfly or Blackburn’s blue, Udara blackburni is a wee flutterer with an inch-wide wingspan, a comical face with bulging eyes, and black-and-white striped antennae. It typically holds its wings upright, displaying their pale aquamarine undersides. As its name suggests, it evolved with the koa tree, feeding on koa leaves in its larval stage and sipping koa nectar as an adult. When koa butterflies alight on a flower to feed, they unfurl a coiled-up proboscis, dip it deep into the flower, and drink as if with a straw. People lucky enough to catch them in flight can witness the spectacular topsides of their wings, which are bright, velvety blue.

Less common but more celebrated is the Kamehameha butterfly, which belongs to the genus Vanessa, a flashy group of 20-odd species of painted ladies and admirals found worldwide. Vanessa tameamea is named after Hawai‘i’s most famous royal house, Kamehameha (or Tameamea as it was sometimes spelled in 1878, when the species was first described). The topsides of this flier’s wings are bright orange and black with white or orange speckles. The undersides are camouflaged green and brown to match the forest understory.

The Kamehameha emerges from its intergalactic egg as a pale green caterpillar. It lives and feeds on native nettles, primarily māmaki. Young caterpillars create tent shelters to hide in by slicing a crescent shape into a leaf, folding the flap over themselves, and fastening it with silk. After gorging themselves on māmaki leaves, they form chrysalises within which they finally become adult pulelehua.

Every stage of the Kamehameha butterfly’s life is fascinating, especially to Will Haines, the research entomologist who studies the species. In 2014, he was tasked with determining how many of the butterflies existed and where. He built a portable bug lab, set up outdoor butterfly cages, and activated a brigade of citizen scientists who logged butterfly sightings online via the Pulelehua Project.

After discovering the species was declining, Haines and University of Hawai‘i graduate student Colby Maeda set out to discover why. Along the way, they figured out how to breed Kamehameha butterflies in captivity. “They need natural lighting,” Haines says. “They mate in the evening. Right around sunset, all the butterflies start getting frisky and chasing each other.” An impregnated female can lay 500 eggs per month.

Sadly, that isn’t enough to counterbalance predation by introduced ants and birds. Once common from summit to sea level, Kamehameha butterflies are now difficult to find outside of native forests. When Haines wants to catch new breeders, he stakes out old koa trees with trunks that ooze fragrant sap—catnip for Kamehameha butterflies. Swarms of them congregate at these sap fluxes, getting half-drunk on the fermented, bubbly brew.

With the help of humans, Hawaiian butterfly populations may rise again. Home gardeners can cultivate koa and ‘a‘ali‘i, another native plant that the koa butterfly favors. “If you plant it, they will come,” Haines says.

In 2009, a group of fifth graders at Pearl Ridge Elementary petitioned Hawai‘i lawmakers to name the Kamehameha butterfly the official state insect. After debating whether to honor the children’s choice or the happy-faced spider, legislators chose the butterfly. The designation sparked a new appreciation for the royal flutterer and its future. Now, many island residents know to look for a flurry of orange and black wings whenever they visit the forest.