Rare species of Hawaiian picture-wing flies are expected to gain larger areas of protected habitat after an outcry following recent rulings under the federal Endangered Species Act.

One of the eight rulings called into question proposed critical habitat for 12 species of Hawaiian flies, which are known as the "birds of paradise" of the insect world for the elaborate markings on their translucent wings and for their flamboyant courtship and territory-defense behaviors.

The decision outraged scientists who had advised the Fish and Wildlife Service on the recovery plan and questioned the methodology and lack of scientific basis for the critical habitat designation.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced it was ordering a review of the rulings after it was determined that former Department of Interior deputy assistant secretary Julie MacDonald may have inappropriately influenced the scientific outcome of the endangered-species decisions, which also affected the Preble's meadow jumping mouse, the Southwestern willow flycatcher, the white-tailed prairie dog, the arroyo toad, the California red-legged frog, and the Canada lynx.

In the Hawai'i case, MacDonald, a political appointee of President Bush, directed that critical habitat for each of the 12 endangered or threatened fly species consist of no more than one acre currently occupied by the insects, according to service officials. The agency published the proposed rule in the Federal Register in August based on that direction.

Hawai'i entomologist Steven Montgomery, who has extensively studied the insects, yesterday characterized the proposed critical habitat plan as "indefensible" and "ludicrous."

"It was a very sick joke to play on living things out here that had no relevance to reality," he said. "It was obvious to me that somebody who had no training whatsoever in science ordered this one-acre-per-species to be put into the Federal Register.

"We gave it our best effort as local experts, and the lower and mid-level professionals did their darnedest to pull all the expertise together and sent it up to Washington, and apparently this official made them decree that the critical habitat was going to be minimal."

University of Hawai'i entomologist Ken Kaneshiro, a researcher of picture-wing flies, said he was shocked by the proposed habitat rule.

"I was part of the scientific panel that provided the input that should have been used to designate critical habitat, but obviously it was not," he said. "I just threw up my hands because one-acre sites for these flies is just ridiculous. It was totally inconceivable."

"Hopefully they will realize they can't really protect the species with one acre."

Because of the scientists' complaints and questions about MacDonald's role in the ruling, the Fish and Wildlife Service is redrafting a critical habitat plan for the picture-wing flies using scientifically based criteria, said Ken Foote, spokesman for the agency's Pacific Region.

The revised rule is not due in the Federal Register until Nov. 15, and Foote said he cannot comment on the new proposal until then. But he did say that "considerable changes" were made to the original designation, which called for a total of 18 one-acre parcels of critical habitat on O'ahu, Hawai'i and Kaua'i to accommodate 11 of the picture-wing fly species. The land is owned mostly by the state, the City & County of Honolulu and the James Campbell Estate.

Critical habitat was not proposed for the 12th species because it already is protected in the Pu'u Kukui Watershed Management Area on Maui. Three acres on the Big Island owned by Kamehameha Schools and one acre owned by Moloka'i Ranch at Pu'u Kolekole were proposed for exclusion because conservation activities already are taking place on the land.

There are approximately 106 species of Hawaiian picture-wing flies, each specially adapted to a particular island and a specific habitat, ranging from desert to rain forest or swampland. Their remarkable adaptive skills have given them a key role in the study of biology and evolution.

The insects breed only on a single or a few related species of plants, some of which are also listed as threatened or endangered.

Scientists and conservationists say that critical habitat should include not only areas occupied by a species but also places suitable for future habitation, since fire and other threats can destroy existing pockets of wildlife.

"You don't want all your eggs in one basket," Montgomery said. "They need to re-examine what this wildlife needs in the valleys and mountains and forests. You just can't draw a little square, an acre, and dream that that would be adequate for it."

Kaneshiro said that in the case of picture-wing flies, the size of the habitat isn't as important as making sure the protected areas include the host plants vital to the insects' life cycle.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.