Today I learnt that if you speak too passionately about dragonflies once, the next blog they need about insects will come your way. I have no relevant credentials (beekeeping?), but I’ve made peace with most (wētā still make me jump, sorry!) of our local creepy crawlies in the few years I spent gardening. In my first five minutes of research, I discovered I am hopelessly uninformed about moths and butterflies in general, let alone our native species. Within a few hours of being shown Butterflies and Moths of Aotearoa, I had pre-ordered a copy for myself and sent in my receipt to claim an exclusive custom tea towel. Join me on my research journey!
Cool fact 1: “Insects that metamorphose (change form) such as beetles, wasps, butterflies and moths are the most rich in species. This is because they are able to synchronise their life cycles to the environment, including extreme conditions where animals that remain unchanged all year cannot survive.” Source
Visually, I believe most of us could take a good stab at what might be a moth and what might be a butterfly. Butterflies are often colourful, float around in the sun, land on flowers, and generally add to the atmosphere. Moths tend to be a tad less visually interesting, and take an excessive interest in our lightbulbs. That’s to say, butterflies are usually diurnal (active during the day) and more often brightly coloured and intricately patterned. Moths are mostly nocturnal (active at night) and tend towards muted (not a fan of drab or dull as descriptors) tones. Within my brief learnings, it still holds that all rules have their exceptions, and I’d love to draw your attention to the Madagascan Sunset Moth as an example of a beautifully bright moth.
If you’d like to get a bit more up close and personal to these insects, pay attention to the antennae, resting wing position, and pupae. Moths will have more feathery antennae, hold their wings flat while resting, and will spin a silk cocoon in their pupal stage. Butterflies have clubbed antennae, hold their wings together while resting, and have a hardened chrysalis while they metamorphose. Moths also have a frenulum, which is a small link connecting their wings that allows for more efficient flight, where butterflies have an overlapping wing design instead.
Cool fact 2: "The obrina olivewing butterfly is one of the few animals that can produce true blue pigment (as opposed to structural coloration, microscopic physical structures to scatter and reflect only blue wavelengths of light)”. Source (I cannot recommend enough having a read of this page, but for the sake of not getting off track, onwards)
Small shout-out to my time as a gardener and a beekeeper, here’s what the average person can do to help our native insects. Everything starts with learning what lives in your area, then do some research on host plants and nectar-rich flowers that will thrive in your local soil and climate. Aim for biodiversity (ie. as many different plants as possible!) and having pockets of native flora in your garden. The committed gardener could be recommended to try growing nettle for our Red Admiral butterflies, but unless you have plenty of space to hide it out of the way, maybe stick to easy natives like Muehlenbeckia. Letting your lawn grow out for an extra week or two, or leaving small patches unmown (especially if you’re open to scattering some wildflower seeds), can do wonders for our pollinators. If you’re spraying insecticides or herbicides, try to spray early in the morning on a still day, or avoid times and/or areas where plants and grasses are flowering. Personally, I enjoy following local insect and plant (and bird!) identification groups on Facebook, and I’ve just signed up to the Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust newsletter. So much of conservation starts with spreading awareness, tell anyone you can about our native species! (If you like podcasts - DOC Sounds of Science Podcast is an incredible listen).
Until about 4 hours ago, I truly could not have named more species than Monarchs or Cabbage white butterflies off the top of my head, so in case you can’t either, here are some I’ve just learnt exist!
Moths - Endemic
Puriri Moth
North Island lichen moth
Fern looper
Butterflies - Endemic
Red admiral, Kahukura
New Zealand blue
Rauparaha's copper
One last thing before I finish my work-sanctioned hyperfixation blog, I might never understand enough about insect eyes to be able to explain them comprehensibly, but they will always be a source of fascination to me. I’ve read at least five different articles teaching me the difference between a moth's superposition and butterfly’s apposition eyes, but it will have to do with an honorable mention and no further explanation. And if you’ve made it this far, then I think we both deserve one dragonfly fact too :) Dragonflies use a flight pattern called motion camouflage to deceive rivals into thinking they’re completely stationary until they’re right in front of them! (Highly recommend reading about dragonfly eyes if anyone’s interested, here)
Thank you for reading (any and all further reading recommendations are entirely welcome)!
Some more reading below!
