It is named after Puʻu Wēkiu, which means "topmost hill" in the Hawaiian language, the summit peak of Mauna Kea.

[2] The summit of Mauna Kea is a bleak, cold, apparently lifeless place with cinder cones on a plateau of lava, but a number of organisms have adapted to the inhospitable environment.

[3] Unlike most other lygaeids, which eat seeds, the wēkiu bug has adapted to feed on insects that are blown up to the top of the mountain and die.

Based on our review of the best available information, we no longer conclude that threats across the wekiu bug’s expanded range put the species in danger of extinction.

[5] The common name is also used to refer to the closely related Nysius aa, which occupies the same niche on Mauna Loa.