Symbol of summer

Butterflies are beautiful creatures that nearly everyone likes. They are a symbol of summer, so are a welcome sight for most in the spring as they herald warmer days to come. They are sun-loving creatures that float around & bask in the sun on flowers as well as a few other places they think are comfortable.

Have you noticed New Zealand seems to have only a few Butterflies, with the only commonly seen species being the Small White Butterfly. There are 17 native species in New Zealand & 10 of these are lowland species, so are fairly easy to spot. There is also 2 migrant species that get to our shores fairly often from Australia, another one that occasionally visits, plus 3 others that seldom bother to visit us!

New Zealand is blessed to have a range of colourful Butterflies that come in all sizes from small to large. The aim of the nzButterfly.info website is to help you identify each species & learn how to encourage them to your place. The nzButterfly.info website will also give you a guide to where & when to look for each species.

Technical Words are placed within the text of the website, but chances are it's underlined & is a link to the pop-up Glossary. This enables you to look up the word without going to glossary page & losing you place in the text. If you use a popup blocker or just like reading glossaries, then there is always a link to the glossary page in the 'Learn More' menu on the top of each page.

This website has still got a long way to evolve & improve. nzButterfly.info wishes to have several new sections included soon around the areas of gardening & identification. There will be other improvements too, especially on some of the information given as there is more research needed to fill gaps. So please keep an eye on this site as it will be offering even more information soon. If you feel you could help, then you may want to check the 'Help Out' page. Alternatively please make contact (under 'About Us' menu at the top of the page) with nzButterfly.info to share your knowledge or ideas.

Flying in February

Red Admiral
Yellow Admiral
Common Blue
Long-tailed Blue
Southern Blue
Boulder Copper
Common Copper
Glade Copper
Rauparaha's Copper
Monarch
Black Mountain Ringlet
Butler's Ringlet
Forest Ringlet
Common Tussock
Harris's Tussock
Janita's Tussock
White Butterfly

Possible Migrants

Painted Lady
Lesser Wanderer