Researchers from the University of Hawaii have discovered eight new species of Hyposmocoma moths on three islands within Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said today.

The researchers — Patrick Schmitz and Daniel Rubinoff — believe the newly discovered species may be descendants of species that colonized the Hawaiian archipelago more than 5 million years ago, before Kauai emerged, a USFWS news release said.

"The Northern Hawaiian Islands are remnants of islands that once rose to 3,000 feet or more in elevation and supported drastically different and more diverse terrestrial plants and animals than are found on the mostly low-lying atolls today," the release said.

"We are continuing our research now, but it is possible that the ancient ancestor of the now uniquely Hawaiian Hyposmocoma moths may have landed on a young Northwestern Hawaiian Island and evolved over millions of years into several lineages, which hopped down the island chain, spawning a diversity of species," Rubinoff said.

Hyposmocoma moths are found only in the Hawaiian Islands and include more than 315 different species.

The moths identified in this study were reared from larvae collected on Laysan Island, Mokumanamana and Nihoa in 2004, 2007 and 2008.