Community event to bring back the butterflies

Community event to bring back the butterflies

A special community event to raise awareness of the plight of New Zealand’s butterflies and moths is to be held at the Biological Husbandry Unit (BHU) at Lincoln University on Sunday October 19 (1pm to 4pm).

The event is for both adults and children, and will include live demonstrations, as well as discussions on how individuals can help restore the viability of these important insects. There will be butterfly plants, seeds, and mesh covers for sale, as well as fun, interactive competitions and games for the kids, with giveaways and prizes included.

The serious issues facing bee colonies are well documented, particularly with regard to the crucial role they play in pollinating the majority of the plants we eat. Less well known is the ecological contribution butterflies and moths make, and the fact that they themselves are under threat.

Increased urbanisation and intensive agriculture have in large part been blamed for the dwindling numbers of these insects, especially in the case of those native to New Zealand. Under such circumstances, traditional habitats and food sources have become compromised or scarce.

Pesticides are also suspected of having a negative effect on butterfly and moth populations, including neonicotinoids – a class of pesticide chemically similar to nicotine but with higher toxicity. It’s thought that even a tiny amount of this chemical might significantly affect the viability of butterfly and moth species, as has been the case with bee populations.

Butterflies and moths play important ecological roles: the adults contribute toward pollination, while the caterpillars play an important part in the food chain as food themselves for a range of insects and birds.

To give some idea of the issue, Senior Lecturer in Ecology at Lincoln University, Dr Jon Sullivan, estimates that just three percent of the butterfly population in Christchurch and Lincoln is comprised of native species. The remaining 97 percent being introduced or self-introduced species.

The monarch is one such self-introduced species, and one which performs well, largely because its popularity has encouraged people to grow swan plants, the insect’s only food source. According to Dr Sullivan, this potentially bodes well for native species such as the red admiral or Canterbury copper, as their success as a species may require nothing more than planting more of the right plants.

“The challenge in front of us is to turn things around and bring native butterflies and moths back to people’s gardens and farms. It could well be an ecologically easy thing to do if enough people want to do it,” says Dr Sullivan.

There are an estimated 55 species of butterfly in New Zealand, with 40 considered to be endemic, and around 2000 species of moth, of which approximately 90 percent are found only in this country; which makes New Zealand the country with the highest proportion of native moths in the world.

According to Brian and Hamish Patrick, father-and-son authors of Butterflies of the South Pacific, more than 200 native New Zealand moth species are listed by the Department of Conservation as under threat.

“Up until about the 1930’s, one beautiful species, Xanthorhoe bulbulata, used to be common from Hawkes Bay all the way to Invercargill, and could be seen flying during the day over grasslands and wetlands typical of the lowland terrain at the time,” says Brian Patrick. “In the 1980’s only two moths were found, and, despite thousands of hours put in by entomologists, none have been found since 1991.”

The upcoming community event at Lincoln will show gardeners and school children what can be done to restore butterfly and moth populations, such as the best plants for butterfly eggs, and which flowers provide the nectar vital for energy.

Among those in attendance will be Lincoln University Professor of Ecology and popular gardening columnist, Steve Wratten, who hopes by the end of the day those attending the event will have a much better idea of the importance of these insects.

More information on the Butterfly Day and the BHU can be found at: http://www.bhu.org.nz/butterfly

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