That's not good for the 400 to 500 other known native aquatic species that live in Hawai'i's freshwater ponds, wetlands and streams. "They're all in the same boat," Englund said.

But while most conservationists here are busy trying to save mammals, birds and plants, Hawai'i's beleaguered aquatic insects go largely unnoticed. Englund would like that to change.

These bugs, he said, are a key component of biodiversity in various freshwater ecosystems, yet they are threatened by more than 70 introduced fish species that have unleashed devastating effects.

Why isn't more effort being put into aquatic insect conservation? "They aren't warm and fuzzy. They aren't cute. They aren't like the (Hawaiian) monk seal or the birds," Englund said.

They're also perceived as pests, lumped in the same lowly category with cockroaches, mosquitoes and centipedes. But aquatic insect predators in the odonata order, which includes damselflies and dragonflies, provide a service by eating mosquitoes.