Growing native butterflies

An Auckland couple is bringing native butterflies back, one garden at a time.

Butterflies 101

Are monarchs native? It’s complicated. Monarchs arrived, island-hopping from North America, in the late 19th century. Although common around the world, they are considered native because people did not introduce them. How many native butterflies does New Zealand have? There are 60 known species, many of which live in alpine conditions. Red and yellow admirals, coppers, and long-tailed blues are the most common in gardens.

A TEENY NATIVE butterfly may go unnoticed near its flashier monarch ‘cousin,’ but it’s all Robert Jones and Angela MoonJones have eyes for.

“You could technically call monarchs endemic, but to us, they’re not native to New Zealand,” says Angela.

The Auckland couple have spent decades breeding native butterflies after populations were decimated by aerial sprays for painted apple moth in the 1990s.

“It was intended for the moth, but it took out the butterflies,” says Robert.

Food sources are also scarce. Exotic nettle varieties, enjoyed by several native butterfly species, have declined. The plants protect native red admirals from wasps, while gorse flowers provide nectar for longtailed blue butterflies.

These ‘weeds’ in Robert and Angela’s garden are nurtured like flowers.

“You won’t find many people growing nettles and gorse,” says Angela. They have a native nettle enclosed in netting to protect admiral caterpillars from wasps.

“We’ve focused on the copper and admiral butterflies because we know we can succeed,” she says.

Their mission continues across the street into a nearby reserve, where (with permission) they’ve planted gorse, hebes, and native nettles.

Long-tailed blues and coppers — two native species no bigger than a thumb — flitter among the weeds.

“It was an experiment to see if we could get them going at the park,” says Angela.

Each season, red and yellow admirals are hand-released in a giant nettle tree.

“You can’t save them all,” says Robert. “But saving even a proportion of native butterflies keeps the cycle going.”

Breeding caterpillars is painstaking work and often rewarded with wasp and nettle stings. However, the wins are appreciated. In Eden Garden, a crowd applauds as Robert releases a red admiral into the sky.

The couple raise caterpillars in a breeding house before releasing them (often publicly) into the converted Mt Eden quarry.

“People in their eighties come to Eden Garden because they used to see red admirals in their childhood,” says Robert.

They hope, through breeding and education, that native butterflies will return permanently to Auckland. For Robert, this means sitting in the garden surrounded by butterflies in flight. He says it’s like hearing a chorus of birdsong in the forest.

“It’s just beautiful,” he says. “It’s good for the soul.”