Then a little further along the road we found a few hearty Swan Plants (milkweed) growing wild and hosting several 5th Instar Monarch Caterpillars and a few Ladybirds.
We're coming to the end of our Butterfly season in New Zealand, as Autumn cools our temperatures. What a joy, then, to find a grassy patch in a nearby area to where I live, complete with several blue butterflies. I sat with them for a while and took some photos. Then a little further along the road we found a few hearty Swan Plants (milkweed) growing wild and hosting several 5th Instar Monarch Caterpillars and a few Ladybirds. Click on each picture below, to see a larger version................ It's getting later and later in our butterfly season in New Zealand, as we trip into Autumn.
Here in the far north our temperatures remain warmer than the rest of the country and Northland (the area I live in) is even nicknamed "the Winterless North". In reality it's not winterless and does get cold, however our temperatures certainly remain warmer than the more southern parts of the country where sometimes they have snow. We never have snow although, on rare occasions, we might get hail. For now, late March/early April, our daytime temperatures sit at around 20-22C (68-72F) and there are still a few butterflies about. A couple of days ago I had a visit from two Common Blue Butterflies (Zizina otis labradus) a male and a female. They arrived suddenly. She laid a few eggs on the sprouting tiny new leaves of Birdsfoot Trefoil that I grow for them, while he hovered about. The Birdsfoot Trefoil at our place has long finished for the year and I have cut the old plants away, however it always self-seeds right back into the same spot and there are already tiny leaves sprouting. I can only hope the eggs will remain in diapause until Spring, because there are certainly not enough leaves to sustain the appetites of growing caterpillars. Late yesterday afternoon we went for a walk around our area. For years there has been a short stretch of roadside grass, down a bank, where Common Blues (Zizina otis labradus) and Long-tail Blues (Lampides boeticus) could be readily seen. Two years ago an over-zealous resident began cutting the roadside grass and then kept it short. All the blue butterflies disappeared. Perhaps the resident has sold up and gone, because tonight we noticed the grass had grown longer and, yes, there were blue butterflies. Not many, but perhaps they will increase in time. The one Long-tailed Blue I saw, gave me the slip, but I get a few shots of several Common Blues. Yay 🦋 COMMON BLUE (Zizina otis labradus) is probably New Zealand's most common butterfly, originally wind blown over from Australia. When visiting Cape Egmont, Taranaki, last week I came across a lovely group of about 20 of them, along the coastline, enjoying the last sun's rays of the day. They were still somewhat active, but when they landed on the grass stalks they remained still for enough time for me to get reasonable photos. The flight pattern of the Common Blue is very zig-zaggy and flicky, so it's not easy to get a shot unless they're still. The pristine condition of this group was heartening. The New Zealand Common Blue is a small butterfly up to 23mm wingspan. It has an erratic fluttering flight and usually flies closer to the ground to be near a food source. They lay single eggs which hatch in a matter of days. The eggs are laid on leaves, stems, flower buds and young pods of food plants, chiefly legumes of the Fabaceae family such as clover, Birdsfoot Trefoil and various native species. Newly hatched larvae eat small holes from young leaves or flower buds, and later feed mainly inside flowers. We're into our Winter in New Zealand now. We had an extraordinary long and hot summer and the butterflies were plentiful. Then we had a hot Autumn, so the butterflies kept coming.
I visited the South Island (it's colder there) 2 weeks ago and saw many Common Blues in a sunny garden patch behind a church. There were more than 20, flicking about in the sun. Just glorious to see. Click on each picture below to see a larger view.......... If you've read any of my other blog posts, then I'm sure I don't need to tell you how much I adore our sweet little New Zealand blue butterflies. I am constantly looking out for them, wherever I go when it's sunny, and always have a camera in my pocket in case I find one to photograph. I live in the far north of our country, meaning that Summer and warm temperatures hang around for a bit longer than the more southern areas of New Zealand. Consequently we see butterflies for more months of the year (lucky us). A few facts: Our Common Blue (Zizina otis labradus) is a small butterfly 17-27mm (and I've seen some even smaller). They are widely spread throughout New Zealand and it is suggested they were blown over from Australia in the 1800's. They can be found in grassy areas where plants like Verbena, Birdsfoot Trefoil, Clover and Vetch are found. They also like sandy and gravelly areas (really difficult to spot them on gravel because of their greyish colouring). They lay a single egg, that can hatch within days, on leaves, stems, flower buds and young pods of food plants of the legume Fabaceae family. It seems to be one of the few New Zealand butterflies that does not have parasites, which is said could be due to its food plants naturally containing cyanide, or perhaps that no parasites have been noticed yet. It is thought to overwinter at 3rd instar stage, at which time the larvae move to the shelter of the base of the food plant, in tall vegetation, and spend the colder months in diapause (a period of physiologically enforced dormancy between periods of activity) or quiescence (being at rest, quiet, still, inactive or motionless). These instar pupate in September/October, but if they run out of food they might pupate early (and will be smaller butterflies). Ref: TERRAIN, NZ Landcare Research, NZ Butterfly Info I'm sure you might have guessed that I would be going back to the same spot where I saw the Long-tailed Blues yesterday. Yes I did and there they were again. But not only were the Long-tailed Blues present, this time there were a few Common Blues. Not many, it's true, nevertheless there they were flying and shining in the late afternoon sun. One thing I've noticed about both the Long-tailed Blues and Common Blues I'm seeing in our area this season, is that they're more brown in colour compared to how we usually see them. We have had an unusually hot, dry summer in New Zealand - even more so in the far north of the country where I live. Our fields are very dry and brown, although the habitat plant where these butterflies lay their eggs (birdsfoot trefoil) seems green enough. I have read that, on butterflies, the scales form patterns and colours to provide them with camouflage that helps them hide from predators by easily blending in with the environment. On further investigation I found this -
I am therefore guessing (guessing) that it might be possible for a butterfly to actively alter its wing colours in order to better blend in with it's surroundings in extreme seasons.
When foliage is more dry and brown than usual (as in our current summer in New Zealand) it seems to me that the Blues may have made a few of their own colour adjustments in order to better blend in. I wonder if others are noticing colour changes, in their own local butterflies, when the colour of the landscape changes dramatically during a butterfly season? That certainly gives me something to think about 🦋 The Treaty Grounds at Waitangi, New Zealand, are historical in that it was the very place where our country's first treaty of understanding, between the Maori people and the British Crown (white people) was signed on 6 February 1840.
In those days the area was just a piece of ragged ground adjacent to the home of James Busby, co-author of the Treaty document. Today it is a beautifully manicured public property, with tidy grounds and a traditional garden surrounding the museumised Busby house (now called the Treaty House). Being not far from where I live, it's to that garden that I love to go with my camera. The flowers cultivated by head gardener, Sharon, bring many butterflies to the locality. Such a great place for butterfly, bee, moth and flower photography. Here are some photos I took during my visit there, yesterday. I have barely seen any blue butterflies, in our area this summer. That's Long-Tailed Blues (Lampides boeticus) and Common Blues (Zizina otis labradus - aka Zizina labradus labradus). In the past there have been many, but not this year. It is my belief that the lack of blue butterflies is due to over-zealous people trimming along the sides of roads where longer long grass and, more importantly, the tiny Birdsfoot Trefoil plant grows. BIrdsfoot Trefoil is the host plant for Blue butterflies so, with no plants to feed upon nor lay their eggs on, the butterflies are just not there. Today, however, I saw three blue butterflies (yes, a whole three) in areas where, up until one or two years ago, there used to be dozens. At this rate there might soon be none whatsoever. Yes, we still have plenty of Blues, in our neck of the woods. While out walking today we were most pleased to see a few Long-tailed Blues (Lampides boeticus) and Common Blues (Zizina otis labradus) flying about in Opua, where we live. They really are just the sweetest things to observe. They have slightly moved location, compared to other years that we have seen them, which I believe is due to a well-meaning local cutting back their habitat. Nevertheless, they are surviving, somewhat 'upstream' from where we were seeing them last Summer. All is well. 🦋 |
AUTHOR
Julie Vause
Opua, New Zealand. Keen butterfly photographer and raises Monarch Butterflies for release. " I'm crazy about butterflies and enjoy sharing the beauty and wonder of their transformations." VIDEO
Monarch Caterpillar emerging from egg
Click on video to enlarge
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September 2023
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