Butterflies

Summer has arrived it seems.  The wind has gone, the clouds have gone, the sun is shining out of blue skies, we have a warm 26C, butterflies have returned to the garden, and the cicadas have begun to sing.

On a recent news item it was reported that numbers of Monarch butterflies in New Zealand are decreasing.  I was sorry to hear this as we do not have a lot of colourful butterflies.

Years ago, as a child, I can remember that every garden seemed to have swan plants growing to be hosts for the regal Monarchs.  There were always green chrysalises hanging from every surface and butterflies flitting around the garden.

One friend of my mother’s grew swan plants all down one side of her house.  Unsurprisingly, her garden was full of beautiful butterflies!

Monarch butterfly on geranium flower (2011)

The Cabbage White butterfly is widespread and prolific, but is regarded as a great pest as its caterpillars will devour any brassicas (cabbage, cauliflower etc.) in the garden.  Some farmers grow brassica crops as stock food, and driving past the field can be like driving through a wall of fluttering white with a resulting massacre showing up on the windscreen of the car.

Cabbage White butterflies mating (2013)

A little butterfly that I am rather fond of is the Common Blue.  It is sometimes seen in towns, on established lawns, but is more common out in the country.  I remember once walking through a sheltered field that was literally awash with Common Blues that floated up around my legs as I walked.

I did have a lovely photo of them, but that has disappeared along with other files on a recently corrupted hard-drive. 

Common Blues like pasture as seen here at Walton Golf Course (1997)

In the beach dunes at Papamoa (Bay of Plenty) there resided a population of Rauparaha’s Copper butterfly.  These little beauties would flit around between the sand dune scrub, seldom settling long enough to take a decent photo.  Thankfully I managed one or two amongst the many that I took.

Rauparaha's Copper in sand dunes at Papamoa (2011)

Occasionally, a garden will receive a visit from a Red Admiral or Yellow Admiral butterfly, but a few years ago I was thrilled when an Australian Painted Lady visited my flowers.

The Magpie Moth is sometimes seen as a butterfly, as it is a daytime moth.  The wings are mostly sooty black, with a few cream spots, and the body is black with several broad orange markings.  They are not as common as they used to be, possibly because one of their main hosts is ragwort which is classed as a noxious weed and seldom left to grow on farmland anymore.

Magpie Moth caterpillars (2010)

A garden full of colour and pleasant scents can only be enhanced by the sound of bird song and the fluttering of butterflies.

Margaret.