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1ISSUE 17 | WINTER 2016 PlUS oN PagE 16 oRdER yoUR 2017 Astonishing calENdaR NoW 2017 Calendar puriri moth SPONSORED BY alSo IN ThIS ISSUE: MESMERISEd by MoNaRchS | dElIghTfUl dahlIaS | MEMoRIES To TREaSURE 2 I am sure you will be fascinated by our puriri moth featuring in this issue. Not From the many people realise that they take about five years from egg to adult… and then Editor live for about 48 hours! If you haven’t got dahlias growing idwinter usually means in your garden, you’ll change a dearth of butterflies your mind when you read CoNtENtS M but this year has certainly not our gardening feature. As well, Brian Cover photo: Nicholas A Martin been typical. At Te Puna Quarry Park Patrick tells of another fascinating moth. there are hundreds (yes, hundreds) of We are very excited about events that 2 Editorial monarch caterpillars and pupae. In my are coming up: not only our plans for our garden my nettles are covered with beautiful forest ringlet but our presence hundreds (yes, hundreds) of admiral at two major shows in Auckland in 3 Certification larvae in their little tent cocoons, November. Thanks to the Body Shop overwintering. My midwinter nectar is On another note, we have plans covered in monarchs, still mating and for rolling out the movie Flight of the 4-5 Ghosts Moths & egg-laying. It could make for a very busy, Butterflies in 3D to a cinema near you. early spring! Because it will be another three months Puriri Moths One of the best parts of my work for before our next magazine we urge you the MBNZT is seeing people’s delight to sign up for our e-news (free) to keep 6 The Trust at Work at a butterfly release. I recently spoke updated with more timely information. to a group of senior citizens. Edna, over mb.org.nz/wp-login.php?action=register 7 Mesmerised by Monarchs 100 years, released the monarchs I took Now is a great time to be thinking along. Everyone was moved. (See photo) about the coming butterfly season. It’s 8-9 a perfect time to be doing our Create Delightful Butterfly Habitat course on line so we’ve Dahlias set up a special midwinter intake starting COME 20 July. Get in now while there are places 10-11 A Celebration to left! You’ll love it… easy to follow and you’ll be surprised at how much you Of Our Rocky Places MEXICO didn’t know about monarch butterflies and see the and other species too. 12 On the Case Magical Monarch Migration for yourself with Inspector Insector PLUS • Fascinating culture 13 Memories to Treasure • Amazing food • Outstanding history 14 The Trust at Work 2 January 2017 15 Did You Know Tour starts in NZ Small Group 16 Membership Renewal Register your interest now [email protected] Editor/Secretary: Jacqui Knight [email protected] Graphic Designer: Jai Pancha, [email protected] Treasurer: Carol Stensness A big thank you [email protected] Advertising: Angela Moon-Jones Please support to our magazine [email protected] ISSN 2324-1993 (Print) sponsors. We couldn’t ISSN 2324-2000 (Online) our SpoNSorS Published by: Moths and Butterflies of New do it without you. Zealand Trust, PO Box 44100 Pt Chevalier, Auckland 1246 www.nzbutterflies.org.nz [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ mbnzt Twitter: @NZButterflies Pinterest: pinterest.com/mbnzt Instagram: http://instagram.com/ Gubba nzbutterfliesandmoths/ Printed in New Zealand on Cocoon 100% recycled paper using vegetable-based inks 3 CERTIFiCATION he latest habitat to be granted certification is the Waiheke hideaway of Sir Rob and T Jennie, Lady Fenwick. They are the latest owners to have their property certificated as being a great example of butterfly and moth habitat. Sir Rob is a business leader and environmentalist, one of three finalists for Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year earlier this year and knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours recently. Their property, ‘Te Matuku Bay’ is 350 ha on a southern promontory of Waiheke Island, which has been tended with a great deal of planning and forethought. For instance, a pest plant woolly nightshade was left as an experiment to see if it would naturally die out by regenerating native forest. This experiment has generally been successful and the regenerating forest is thriving. After a long history of forest clearances, stock grazing and burning off most of the Te Matuku Bay catchment is now rapidly regenerating back to a natural state. However, the owners are not preoccupied just with native species: they are proud of the many swan plants and other exotics growing to make this a paradise for butterflies. And the tall stands of trees in the forest reserves encourage such wildlife and the natural heritage of encourage other businesspeople to place species as the puriri moth, while the New Zealand and Antarctica. Sir Rob environmental responsibility at the centre coastal vegetation is a great host for in particular has dedicated his life to of their decision-making process. Earlier coppers. According to botanist Ewen preserving the environment for current this year he was named as one of this Cameron Te Matuku Bay is a wonderful and future generations. year’s inductees into the New Zealand example of private individuals, a society A former journalist and public Business Hall of Fame. and the Crown working together to relations consultant, he co-founded We are proud to include Te Matuku achieve a marvellous outcome for Living Earth Ltd, the country’s largest Bay among the certificated properties. restoring biodiversity. municipal composting business. Much Could yours meet the criteria? Why not The Fenwicks are passionate about of the focus of his career has been to investigate this on our website now. and lack livelihood options. and this coming summer, the Forest Thanks to The Body Shop works in other areas Ringlet Project. The lucky draw will be too: animal protection, environmental conducted in August – winners will be THE BODY SHOP protection and human rights. They say published in our e-news after the draw his beautiful butterfly, the common that it’s entirely down to the support, has been made, and the winners will Jezebel (Delias eucharis), comes enthusiasm and never-ending help they receive their gift cards in the mail. T from North India and other parts receive from their stakeholders that To receive the e-news, sign up here: of Asia. The butterfly can be found in the they’ve been able to fund the projects mb.org.nz/wp-login.php?action=register Sangla valley of North India, where The they have. Body Shop has been working And now The Body Shop with more with villagers to help them than 30 outlets around the country, has farm native plants and work recognised our work in habitat and on the conservation of species restoration in New Zealand native plants in the wild. and is helping by encouraging our The villages are directly existing and new members to renew benefiting through the their subscriptions by offering $50 gift cultivation of medicinal plants. cards to five lucky members who renew The area is rich in this flora but they their subscription before the end of July. are under increasing threat due to wild Remember that a good percentage harvesting and consequent loss of of your subscription goes towards our habitat. The local communities are poor projects such as educational displays, 4 Ghost Moths &puririmothS Story by Kode Falena hroughout the world there is a diverse group of primitive moths T called the Hepialidae or ghost moths. The 60 families contain just under 600 currently recognised species. The 27 species of ghost moths in New Zealand are found on both islands, characterised by very short antennae and no functional proboscis. It has been some years since our columnist Brian Patrick discovered Heloxycanus patricki, in the Dansey Pass. This one is unique: it breeds only every second year. “It’s a beautiful sight - it’s a gorgeous species”, says Brian. He has since become aware that the moth is widespread, in moss bogs from sea level to alpine wetlands, but only in Otago-Southland. In the North Island, the pūriri moth (Aenetus virescens), our largest native moth, is also part of the ghost moth family. Its wings are mostly bright green and may span 15 centimetres in the females. In fact, they are so big they can sometimes be mistaken for bats! The Maori of the Hawkes Bay/ Wairarapa (Ngāti Kahungunu) tell a fascinating legend about the pūriri moth: An ancestor named Hinepeke (jumping woman) married Tūteahuru, a grandson of Tāne, god of the forest. From the match a vast number of insects and lizards were produced, some dwelling within the earth, on the land or stones, and some in the water. And one descendant was pepetuna or the pūriri moth. Because the adult moth flies at dusk and into the night, commonly regarded as the realm of spirits, 1 pepetuna was known as a spiritual females fly through the forest, dropping messenger, or ghost of an ancestor their eggs (up to 2,000) onto the leaf Matariki Message returning to visit his or her descendants. litter beneath them. Remember that they The caterpillars were used by the have no mouthparts, so they live only a Maori as bait with few days. He iti mokoroa e which to catch Eggs, like hinga pūriri. eels, thus giving little pale them their name yellow pearls, pepetuna (eel turn black a moth). The name few days later The little mokoroa could also allude and hatch grub can fell a to their being within a few eaten by migrating weeks.