I’ve had two kahukōwhai (yellow admiral butterfly) visitors this week, unusual for this time of year, so I’m taking the hint and writing about our butterflies this week! One spent an afternoon with me in the garden, the other stayed just long enough for a rest and a drink of nectar.
We share the kahukōwhai with Australia, Lord Howe Island, and the Norfolk Islands (unlike its cousin, the kahukura, who is endemic to Aotearoa). However, it is a butterfly that is very special to me because it introduced me to the world of lepidoptera beyond the kahuku (monarch) and pepe mā (cabbage white).
A patch of our trees had been cleared by an accidental fire and, as nature abhors a vacuum, quickly filled with weeds. In this case, we ended up with a big patch of stinging nettles, as well as some thistle and dock. It was here that I saw my first kahukōwhai - except that I didn’t know what it was at the time.
It wasn’t a kahuku, I knew that much. It was smaller, and I thought I saw some red and yellow spots on it wings. Eventually I discovered through Wikipedia and the Moths & Butterflies of NZ Trust (MBNZT) that it was the native yellow admiral butterfly.
Of course, all this digging led me to learn about our other butterflies (and moths)… and become painfully aware of how little I knew about so much of our native wildlife. It’s one reason I have come to create this Substack newsletter - I know I am not the only one who is interested in learning more about our rich, diverse natural heritage.
We have our admirals: the kahukōwhai, the introduced Honshu white, the kahukura and its Chatham Island sub-species; the southern, common, and long-tailed blues; a whole range of coppers (that we’re still trying to identify); the ringlets and tussocks and quite a number of butterflies that visit from our Australian and Pacific neighbours - and I haven’t even started on the moths. You can see a list on the MBNZT website.
I still experience waves of shame from not knowing. We are all familiar with ngā manu (our birds), our pekapeka (bats), and our ancient tuatara. Most of us at least know that we have native geckos and skinks, even if we don’t know much about them. But somehow, our butterflies missed the boat - and I feel that we are doing them a disservice in our ignorance.
But, they are forgiving. If you build habitat for them they will come. They don’t require you to create a home for them, you just need to provide for some of their needs. Today’s visitor to my garden was a textbook example. The kahukōwhai stopped for a moment to bask on the sun-facing side of our wall, dipping around the corner to feed on some alyssum flowers tucked into a seriously miniscule wildflower patch (about the area of an A3 piece of paper). And then, needs met, it continued on its way.
Butterflies are particularly easy to cater to, and so there is a great opportunity for us all to bolster our lepidoptera population with very little effort. Plant some flowers or host plants for butterflies in your region (I suggest using NZ Butterfly Info). Perhaps you could add a nectar source to your garden, balcony, or porch - or make a cuppa and spend some time just learning about our little winged friends.
So, what will you do this weekend to help our native butterflies?
Happy learning,
Zenobia x
You might also like:
How NOT to create a butterfly garden - an article describing my trials and failures
Butterfly species - a list of all our butterflies by MBNZT
How to Attract Butterflies to your Garden - a guide to host plants by Forest & Bird
Butterfly seeds - a selection of seeds (and seed mixes) from MBNZT