Wildlife December 2011

[Anthony Darby]

My sister-in-law has cats and one night all the local moggies followed one of hers through the cat flap and she woke up with a bedroom full of spitting fur balls. She had to fit a magnet operated cat flap which solved the problem.

[David Lyttle]

I may yet get to a cricket match? The lack of butterflies saddens me. I've only seen three species so far this summer!

There are plenty of butterflies around if one knows where to look. Today I saw red admirals( Bassaris gonerilla), small coppers (Lycaena sp) and tussock butterflies(Argyrophenga ) in fair numbers. Photographing them did not prove as easy but here are my efforts.

1 Butterfly habitat at Sandymount and Sandfly Bay. There is an abundance of food plants Urtica ferox for the Admirals and Muehlenbeckia austalis for the Coppers.

2. Tussock butterfly (Argyrophenga )at rest. See the beautiful green streaks on the wings.

3,4 Small Copper(Lycaena sp)

Before Christmas I saw Percnodaimon pluto again in fair numbers on the screes of the Ida Range.

[Anthony Darby]

It seems the South Island has a better selection of species. I've seen coppers at Piha and a red admiral east of Tauranga. I have had the yellow admiral in the garden once last summer. I need to get out and about more. I have a couple of Urtica ferox plants in the hope of attracting passing vanessids.

[Lesley Cox]

But even so, we have few compared with the UK and greater Europe, even with Australia.

[Hoy]

It seems the South Island has a better selection of species. I've seen coppers at Piha and a red admiral east of Tauranga. I have had the yellow admiral in the garden once last summer. I need to get out and about more. I have a couple of Urtica ferox plants in the hope of attracting passing vanessids.

Urtica ferox is that the one called ongaonga? Is it hardy? Looks terrifying from pictures

No butterflies here now but here is one visitor from last summer, the red admiral (Vanessa atalanta). Is your red admiral the same species?

[Anthony Darby]

The New Zealand red admiral (Bassaris gonerilla) is only found here. It is bred in the UK by enthusiasts and I bought some pupae in June 2010, which hatched in my greenhouse (see pic). The larvae will eat most nettles, e.g. Urtica dioica, but generally stick to ferox in New Zealand. I don't know if this nettle is hardy? I do know that if you roll around in a patch of them the stings could kill you.

[David Lyttle]

Urtica ferox is the one called ongaonga; it is not to be trifled with. I doubt it would be hardy in Norway. We have plenty of it here on the Otago Peninsula so as a consequence we have plenty of Red Admiral butterflies. Our Red Admiral is a different genus and species from yours Bassaris gonerilla rather than Vanessa atalanta though the two species look quite similar.

I doubt that Urtica ferox will ever become a popular plant to grow as a host for Red Admirals in the same way that Swan plants is grown as a host for Monarchs.

[Anthony Darby]

When I started teaching the common stinging nettle could be found growing at the edge of our sports field against the walls, where it did no harm and usually had colonies of small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) caterpillars in June. This butterfly lays its eggs all in one batch, so the caterpillars are gregarious, a habit it shares with the peacock butterfly (Inachis io). Within five years the council had discovered weed killer and the nettle patches disappeared. There are still plenty of nettle patches on private farm land, but the small tortoiseshell is less common. The red admiral is migratory as is not known for hibernating (some may do), arriving from the Mediterranean in the spring. Its caterpillars are solitary, living in a tent made by folding and sewing a few nettle leaves together. Thirty years ago the peacock butterfly was not found in central Scotland. Climate change has seen it become one of the commonest butterflies on the Buddleja in August. Since then, another non-migratory nettle feeder, the comma (Polygonia c-album), has arrived in Scotland. Its caterpillars also feed on elm (Ulmus spp.)

[Hoy]

Thanks both of you!
Although Urtica ferox never will be a popular bedding plant it has a kind of charm in the pictures I have seen of it

I have the small tortoiseshell (it is called nettle butterfly "neslesommerfugl" in Norw), peacock butterfly (almost the same in Norw "dagpåfugløye") and also the comma (called "hvit C" white C) commonly around here in summer. Also a lot of other butterflies and moths including two rare Bee Hawk-moths (Hemaris sp).
The red admiral is here all summer and often occur even in early spring. They say it migrates but I believe some adults overwinter as we sometimes see it very early in spring.

[Anthony Darby]

There may be few butterflies in New Zealand, but they appear to be a fascinating and understudied group e.g. the life history of Erebiola butleri is still unknown and nzbutterfly.info has many gaps in its photographic record of the life histories of several butterfly species.

[Lesley Cox]

A little project for you then Anthony.

[Anthony Darby]

Mmmm! Most seem to be an island away?

[Lesley Cox]

Have car and family. Can travel?

[Anthony Darby]

I can just see it. Me tramping through the wilds of New Zealand while Vivienne, Heidi and the children sit in the car. I used to do this with a friend (George Thomson) in the late 70s collecting butterflies and photographs for a book on Scottish Butterflies, but we could be there and back in a day. I think once we are settled and more financially secure I may get myself a tent and venture afield? I'm going to start with local species.

[angie]

I can just see it. Me tramping through the wilds of New Zealand while Vivienne, Heidi and the children sit in the car. I used to do this with a friend (George Thomson) in the late 70s collecting butterflies and photographs for a book on Scottish Butterflies, but we could be there and back in a day. I think once we are settled and more financially secure I may get myself a tent and venture afield? I'm going to start with local species.

Sounds as if that would be fun. Last year my husband came home with a two man tent, he said it was reduced in Asda a bargain he said only £7 . I won't say what I said.
Thinking of heading of to the Eden project tomorrow. Just fed up sitting here, hate this time of year. I am not going to mention the tent. Anybody got any ideas of somewhere else we could visit when we are way down south ( England )

Angie