I guess that as long as our weather stays a little warm, we'll still be seeing these guys for a while yet.
It's early April in New Zealand and Autumn is here. Imagine my delight at seeing a few blue butterflies out and about today. Here's a Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus) that I saw roosting in long grass late this afternoon. Notice the great condition it's in, indicating that it's still new. I guess that as long as our weather stays a little warm, we'll still be seeing these guys for a while yet. My favourite butterfly Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus).
This gorgeous little sweetie girl was on the Verbena flowers right outside our bedroom 🦋 It seems our summer is fading a little, but they're all still here. I finally spotted some Long-tailed Blues (Lampides boeticus) and we're already into February. This seems a bit late, compared to other years, but at least they're now showing.
We're having a super hot summer in New Zealand and there don't seem to have been many butterflies around, until now, but today (7 Feb 2019) I found a whole bunch of Long-tailed Blues laying eggs on their host plant Birdsfoot Trefoil (lotus cornucalatus). Our butterflies fall prey to many other creatures, asian paper wasps being the worst. The wasps take the butterfly eggs and kill the caterpillars to feed their own young, early in the season, so often our butterflies don't really begin to show until after the wasps have raised their young and are then only feeding on nectar. 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. Today I saw this pristine Long-Tailed Blue (lampides boeticus). I say pristine because it's blue was really blue (in time they fade a little) and there wasn't a single tear/rip on the wings, which were quite perfect. I get excited at every Long-tailed Blue I see. In New Zealand, LONG-TAILED BLUE (lampides boeticus) is a self-introduced, naturalised butterfly. They prefer open habitat, although they live wherever larval food plants (particularly various species of legumes including gorse) are growing. Long-tailed Blue butterflies generally lay their eggs individually on unopened flower buds. When they first hatch, caterpillars are pale yellow, but they quickly turn green or pink-brown. The caterpillars burrow into and eat immature flower buds and seeds. They are opportunists and cannibals, and if they run out of food, they will either pupate early, or eat other caterpillars of their own kind. They are 13-16mm when fully grown. The caterpillars either form chrysalises or pupate inside seed pods. If they pupate in a seed pod, they must wait to emerge until the pod bursts—a wait that can last anywhere between 2 weeks to a year. Males look fairly different from females, sporting mostly blue upper-wings with brown edges as opposed to the female’s predominately brown wings with blue colouring toward their bodies. Both males and females possess eyespots and tails which they move up and down when resting, creating the appearance of a false head which is thought to distract predators. They usually fly fairly high in the air (over 1m above the ground) and have a rapid, jerky flight pattern. Females generally hang out fairly close to their food plants, while males often venture further away. Wingspan: 28-30mm. Range: They are are found in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and various Pacific Islands. In New Zealand, they typically reside across Northland, and can be found on the northern South Island, especially around Nelson. Other related species : Common Blue, Southern Blue and the endemic Southern Blue (Zizina oxleyi). This occurs on the eastern South Island from North Canterbury south to Central Otago whereas the abundant Common Blue (Zizina labradus) is found along the West Coast, Nelson, Marlborough and throughout the North Island. The caterpillars of both species feed on legumes, especially the introduced clovers and medics, which grow along roadsides and on gravel wasteland and riverbeds. REF: http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/branches/auckland/central-auckland/central-auckland-branch-contact/butterfly-breeding-guide/native-n Click on each picture to see a larger view............ It's mid-winter, here in New Zealand.
We've had terrible weather lately - lots of rain, very cold, miserable all round. Imagine my thrill, today, in seeing one of my favourite butterflies flicking around happily - a long-tailed blue. We've not had a lot of sun in recent months, however there were a few sunny moments today (in between showers, I might add). We went for a walk this morning and there, in my usual spot for seeing long-tailed Blues, was a gorgeous butterfly. Wow and super wow, did that make me happy and just look at it - quite pristine 😀 Over the weekend I bought a new camera. Sony A7R Mark2.
It's a lovely thing, easy to operate and known for the clarity of it's shots. As yet I don't have a macro lens for it, but imagine my surprise to find some Long-tailed Blue Butterflies (lampides boeticus), right at the top of the Brynderyn Hills - about 450 metres above sea level and about 60 kilometres south of Whangarei. The lens I bought with the camera is a 27-70mm, a good wide-angle lens for lanscapes. Nevertheless, soon as I saw the butterflies at the top of the Brynderwyns, macro lens or no macro lens, out came the camera. Wow, the results are impressive, so imagine how wonderful it will be when I get the macro lens. Can't wait. Yesterday, when we were heading for Puketi Forest, we stopped along the way to take photos of a wonderful view over rural Kerikeri. We parked on the side of the shingle-covered road and quickly climbed to a small hump in the landscape, to get a better vista. On returning to the car, imagine my surprise and delight to find that we were surrounded by many Long-tailed Blue butterflies (lampides boeticus) enjoying the foliage along the side of the road. Everywhere I turned, there they were fluttering from plant to plant and, at times, dancing together in an upward twirl (I love the way butterflies do that). A quick lens change (fortunately I had my macro lens with me) and about an hour later, after a wonderful frolic among the butterflies, we picked up the trail and drove on to Puketi Forest. If you haven't already guessed, Long-tailed Blues are one of my favourite butterflies that we have in New Zealand, with their tiny tails with little white tips, although I am passionate about all our butterflies. 🎬 Click play (top left of picture below) to watch the slideshow 🔎 Static photos - Click on each thumbnail to see a larger view. We don't have a lot of different butterfly species in New Zealand. I'm told there are 26 in total, however several are different variations within a species, making it 22 different butterfly species in all. Of the 22, I have seen 11. Around where I live there are several butterflies I'm very fond of - in particular the "blues" and the "coppers" and, of course, the Monarchs. Last Summer I noticed how the Long-tailed Blue butterflies were attracted to a roadside plant called Vervain (of the Verbena family). One day, when out with my camera, I took a plastic bag with me, especially to take home a few Vervain plants. I only managed to get one plant. I planted it in a self-watering pot and watched and waited. It did well and this Summer the plant has grown tall. In fact it got so tall, I had to stake it to keep it upright. It has now been flowering for several months with its tiny purple flowers. My idea, as you may have guessed, was to encourage the Long-tailed Blue butterflies into our garden. It worked ! It's only 2 butterflies, however we are now getting Long-tailed Blues into our garden and enjoying the Vervain flowers. While we were having lunch out on our deck, yesterday, I noticed one of the butterflies darting about and then settle on the Vervain. My camera was at the ready and below you can see the result. Despite the ripped state of its wings, it flew wonderfully. Click on each picture below, to see a larger view....... I was very pleased to see a Long-tailed Blue Butterfly today (but only one). There seem to be barely any about in our area this Summer, in the usual places I have found them in previous years. We're having an extra hot Summer in New Zealand's north, so perhaps that is also a contributor. I have also noticed that much of their habitat has been cut back, by well-meaning humans (please leave the grass verges to grow long, people), which in turn forces the butterflies to move location - and of course cutting back their habitat kills their eggs and any caterpillars feeding on the plants. I also note many Asian paper Wasps cruising the blue butterflies' habitat plant Birdsfoot Trefoil, leading me to believe that these wasps are also hunting blue butterfly eggs and caterpillars, just as they do with Monarchs (and also similar for Copper butterflies - plenty of Asian Paper Wasps cruising their habitat too). |
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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