Good morning☀
How are you this February morning? I have been busy in the studio, though the weather has been so lovely lately that I try to take my work outside when I can. This table is next to my Sit Spot, a practice I learned from
and have grown to love. From this spot, I can see my butterfly garden (currently full of hoverflies and bumblebees, with the occasional kahukōwhai fluttering in).Most days, I can hear pīwakawaka (fantail) and riroriro (grey warbler) in the trees behind me, and dragonflies doing the rounds above me. But this summer, we have also had an abundance of blue damselflies, or kekewai (Austrolestes colensonis).
Kekewai are one of our six endemic damselflies1, and the largest one at 4-5cm long. They’re found everywhere except the Kermadec Islands. The males are a light blue that starts out dull and brightens as the day warms up.2 The females are an iridescent green. Unlike dragonflies, who rest with their wings outspread, damselflies close their wings to rest.
You’ll find them around still bodies of water, especially where the water is edged with planting. Having said that, we only have a couple of tiny bucket ponds in our backyard and we get plenty of damselflies and dragonflies - so you don’t necessarily need a big pond to have them visit your garden.
If you do have still, undisturbed water in your garden then you’ll give kekewai an opportunity to breed. Damselfly larvae, often called nymphs, live underwater where they breathe using external gills. They are carnivorous, and have a jointed “mask” covering their mouth, which they flick out and then snap shut to feed on snails, worms, and other insect larvae.3
In our garden, I usually see them perched on long grass, narrow branches, with their bodies held out at right angles. They will stay still like that for ages then, quite suddenly, will be off chasing prey. If successful, they bring this prey back to their perch to enjoy the meal.
So how do we get more of these little predators into our gardens? The usual rules apply: keep away from the insecticides, and don’t be too tidy. As insects, they’re cold-blooded and need to thermoregulate by basking so having places to perch facing the sun is also helpful. A tree will do - they quite like our apple and plum trees, and I’ve recently seen them on harakeke (New Zealand flax) and tussock at our local wetland.
I’m pretty sure it’s the kai (food) in the form of many tiny insects that bring these kekewai to our garden (I’m pretty sure that’s why the pīwakawaka is a constant companion, too). One easy way to get more insects in your garden is to make a logpile. Any bits of wood will do, and any size too - but the rottier, the better!
And if you like a neat garden, no worries - just hide it under your prize dahlia bush.
Happy gardening,
Zenobia💜
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https://www.marlboroughonline.co.nz/marlborough/information/natural-history/animals/invertebrates/insects/austrolestes-colensonis-k-k-wai-blue-damselfly/
Parkinson, B. (2001). Common Insects of New Zealand. Reed Publishing.
Miller, D. (1971). Common Insects in New Zealand. Reed Publishing.