I grew up in New England, where I developed an interest in insects at an early age. Since coming to Hawai‘i in 1994, I have worked on a wide variety of projects including surveying, monitoring, and managing endangered Drosophila flies, Hylaeus bees, and Megalagrion damselflies; taxonomic and molecular phylogenetic study of Drosophila, Hylaeus, and Sierola wasps; and comparison of soil microarthropods inside and outside pig exclosures.
I currently work at the O‘ahu Army Natural Resources Program, conduct my own research as a research associate at the Bishop Museum, and provide scientific consulting services as an independent contractor. For more information, see my CV and .
Publications
Magnacca, K.N., and D.K. Price. 2015. Rapid adaptive radiation and host plant conservation in the Hawaiian picture wing Drosophila (Diptera: Drosophilidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 92:226–242. [pdf]
Magnacca, K.N. 2015. Notes on native and alien Hymenoptera and Diptera (Insecta) from the Hawaiian Islands. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 116:19–22. [pdf]
Miller, A.E., B.J. Brosi, K.N. Magnacca, G.C. Daily, and L. Pejchar. 2015. Pollen carried by native and non-native bees in the large-scale reforestation of pastureland in Hawaii: implications for pollination. Pacific Science 69(5):67–79.
O’Grady, P.M., and K.N. Magnacca. 2014. Studies in Hawaiian Diptera I: new distributional records for endemic Asteia (Asteiidae). Biodiversity Data Journal 2: e1010. [pdf]
Medeiros, M.J., J.A. Eiben, W.P. Haines, R.L. Kaholoaa, C.B.A. King, P.D. Krushelnycky, K.N. Magnacca, D. Rubinoff, F. Starr, and K. Starr. 2013. The importance of insect monitoring to conservation actions in Hawaii. Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 45:149–165. [pdf]
Magnacca, K.N. 2013. On the locality of “Kaumuohona”. Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 45:65–67. [pdf]
Magnacca, K.N. 2013. Hylaeus (Nesoprosopis) mamo (Hymenoptera: Colletidae), a new endemic bee from Oahu, Hawaii. Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 45:59–63. [pdf]
Magnacca, K.N., J. Gibbs, and S. Droege. 2013. Notes on alien and native bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) from the Hawaiian Islands. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 114:61–65. [pdf]
Eldon, J., J.P. Price, K. Magnacca, and D.K. Price. 2013. Patterns and processes in complex landscapes: testing alternative biogeographical hypotheses through integrated analysis of phylogeography and community ecology in Hawai‘i. Molecular Ecology 22(13):3613–3628.
Magnacca, K.N., and D.K. Price. 2012. New species of Hawaiian picture wing Drosophila (Diptera: Drosophilidae), with a key to species. Zootaxa 3188:1–30. [pdf]
Magnacca, K.N. and M.J.F. Brown. 2012. DNA barcoding a regional fauna: Irish solitary bees. Molecular Ecology Resources 12(6):990–998. [pdf]
Magnacca, K.N. 2011. Two new species of Hylaeus (Nesoprosopis) (Hymenoptera: Colletidae) from O‘ahu, Hawai‘i. Zootaxa 3065:60–65. [pdf]
Magnacca, K.N., W.T. Nagamine, and H.H. Dathe. 2011. Hylaeus strenuus (Hymenoptera: Colletidae), a new alien bee on O‘ahu. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 109:23–24. [pdf]
Magnacca, K.N., and M.J.F. Brown. 2010. Mitochondrial heteroplasmy and DNA barcoding in Hawaiian Hylaeus (Nesoprosopis) bees (Hymenoptera: Colletidae). BMC Evolutionary Biology 10:174. [pdf]
Magnacca, K.N., and M.J.F. Brown. 2010. Tissue segregation of mitochondrial haplotypes: a potential problem for DNA barcoding. Molecular Ecology Resources 10(1):60–68. [pdf]
O’Grady, P.M., K.N. Magnacca, and R.T. Lapoint. 2010. Taxonomic relationships within the endemic Hawaiian Drosophilidae. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 108:1–34. [pdf]
Magnacca, K.N., and P.M. O’Grady. 2009. Revision of the modified mouthparts species group of Hawaiian Drosophila (Diptera: Drosophilidae): The ceratostoma, freycinetiae, semifuscata, and setiger subgroups, and unplaced species. University of California Publications in Entomology vol. 130. [pdf]
Lapoint, R.T., K.N. Magnacca, and P.M. O’Grady. 2009. A review of the spoon tarsus subgroup of Hawaiian Drosophila (Drosophilidae: Diptera), with a description of one new species. Zootaxa 2003:53-68.
Magnacca, K.N., D. Foote, and P.M. O’Grady. 2008. A review of the endemic Hawaiian Drosophilidae and their host plants. Zootaxa 1728:1–58. [pdf]
Magnacca, K.N., and P.M. O’Grady. 2008. Revision of the ‘nudidrosophila’ and ‘ateledrosophila’ species groups of Hawaiian Drosophila (Diptera: Drosophilidae), with descriptions of twenty-two new species. Systematic Entomology 33(2):395–428. [pdf]
Magnacca, K.N., and P.M. O’Grady. 2008. New combinations in Hawaiian Drosophila and Scaptomyza (Diptera: Drosophilidae). Zootaxa 1926:53–60. [pdf]
Magnacca, K.N., and P.M. O’Grady. 2007. A subgroup structure for the modified mouthparts species group of Hawaiian Drosophila. Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 38:87–101. [pdf]
Magnacca, K.N. 2007. New records of Hylaeus (Nesoprosopis) and Ceratina bees in Hawai‘i. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 96:44–45. [pdf]
Magnacca, K.N. 2007. Conservation status of the endemic bees of Hawai‘i, Hylaeus (Nesoprosopis) (Hymenoptera: Colletidae). Pacific Science 61(2):173–190. [pdf]
Magnacca, K.N., and B.N. Danforth. 2007. Low nuclear DNA variation supports a recent origin of Hawaiian Hylaeus bees (Hymenoptera: Colletidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 43(3):908–915. [pdf]
Magnacca, K.N., and B.N. Danforth. 2006. Evolution and biogeography of native Hawaiian Hylaeus bees (Hymenoptera: Colletidae). Cladistics 22(5):393–411. [pdf]