This is Not a Monarch
Our endemic red admiral butterfly
I was planning to save this pūrerehua (butterfly) for springtime, when they become more active, but I was seeking feedback on my 2024 calendar images and a friend commented that she liked the ‘red monarch’.
So, let’s be clear: this is NOT a monarch.
This is the striking kahukura, or New Zealand red admiral butterfly (Vanessa gonerilla gonerilla). There’s also the Chatham Islands red admiral (Vanessa gonerilla ida). While there are other types of red admiral butterflies around the world, both of these species are only found in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Here in Aotearoa we also have the kahukōwhai (or yellow admiral), which we share with Australia, and tends to be more common. It’s the first pūrerehua that led me to discover species beyond the monarch and the cabbage white.
For me, kahukura have become the harbinger of spring. Though they are considered a forest butterfly, they are the first of the pūrerehua to arrive in our garden, enjoying the plentiful blossoms on our fruit trees. We see them throughout summer and well into autumn when they visit to feed or bask. They seem to particularly like our hebe, yarrow, hoheria, and leek flowers.
Last summer, while working in the vegetable garden, a kahukura came to feed on the onion and leeks that I had left to flower (noticing in previous years that bees and butterflies seemed to like them). They have these spheres made up of hundreds of tiny flowers, so insects can feed on - and pollinate - numerous flowers in a short time.
This particular kahukura would flutter down and feed for a while, then retreat to the nearby tī kouka (cabbage tree) to rest. It did this for hours while I weeded the vegetable beds, and I was able to get some magical photos.
It was also a fantastic opportunity to observe their behaviour; to get to know them a little bit better. Their Māori name, kahukura, also refers to the atua (spirit; personification) of the rainbow. It’s a truly special creature.
The host plant, on which eggs are laid and caterpillars feed on, is the stinging nettle. They tend to avoid the introduced species of stinging nettle with a preference for the native species: ongaonga (Urtica ferox) and Chatham Islands nettle (urtica australis).
Unlike the introduced stinging nettles, which are smaller with a light tingling sting, ongaonga grows up to three metres high with stings that can get up to 6mm. It’s also called tree nettle, and because of its size and sting has become rare in areas where humans dominate.
This means there are fewer and fewer plants available for kahukura to breed on. However, the Chatham Islands nettle is a viable alternative and seeds can be sourced from the Moths & Butterflies NZ Trust.
Kahukura live across the whole of Aotearoa, so no matter where you are in the country you will be able to see them - as long as there are ongaonga somewhere nearby. With a greater awareness of how important our native stinging nettles are, we can help this taonga (prized) species of pūrerehua by allowing ongaonga to grow in bush and forests.
You could even grow Chatham Islands nettles in our own garden or outdoor space. If you’re not so keen on stinging nettle in your backyard, planting lots of flowering plants in big clumps of colour will help the kahukura - and other insects - on their journeys.
There’s a fantastic article by Auckland Zoo if you’d like to learn more about kahukura, or check out the Moths & Butterflies NZ website to learn about the wonderful range of butterfly species that call Aotearoa home.
Have a beautiful day,
Zenobia x
How NOT to create a butterfly garden
This is the first post in my mini-series on butterfly gardening. You can find it, and more on our native butterflies in The Butterfly Garden archives. I had a butterfly garden planned for a spot just outside our large dining room window. I thought it was perfect: all day sun, dry-ish soil that wildflowers thrive in, and of course a view from the house. I had NOT factored in the gusty nor-westerlies, the lack of tree cover, or the fact that it backs on to my neighbour’s driveway (if I was a butterfly, I wouldn’t like car exhaust or weed spray much either).
If you’d like to support my work, join with a monthly or annual subscription. Group discounts and gift subscriptions are also available.
If you would like to support The Dwindle River Garden with a small one-off donation, tap the button below.
Lovely. I get yellow admirals in my garden and they delight me. Also, one year I tried pretty hard to get onga onga voted New Zealand's favourite plant. I had a whole lot of good reasons, including "it's only occasionally fatal" and "it's great to see a native plant which stands up for itself".
That's a lot of information about these tiny creatures.