Contents > Resources > Help the Butterflies
Please do your part to help the Butterflies
Write up something
Inspire others with your passion for butterflies. If you want to write anything on the subject
from a poem to a full scale zoological report, then nzButterfly.info would love to host this content
to help with informing and inspiring others into the passion of being a lepidopterist.
nzButterfly.info would especially like to have any gardening advice, ranging from best practice
for growing food and nectar plants to which flowers really appeal to your local butterflies.
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Strange behaviour?
Please contact us if you witness anything different like this. 
Female Common Copper with Male Boulder Copper Photo from picasaweb.google.com/Naturbilleder/ SommerfugleNewZealand |
Report sighting
There has never being any large scale surveys in New Zealand for Butterflies. nzButterfly.info
has teamed up up with
iNaturalist NZ
to survey New Zealand's Butterflies. Start today by filling in the
sighting report form.
Gardening
Growing food and nectar plants in you garden won't just bring butterflies to you, but will
also help increase their low numbers. Remember, you need to plant both the caterpillars foodplant
as well as flowers rich in nectar. Easy to grow
foodplants are;
Clover and Trefoil
Leave a patch of your lawn with Clovers (Trifolium spp) and Trefoils (Lotus spp)
to grow more. The Common and
Southern Blue butterflies will love the undisturbed
patch for their young. Plus these plants provide nectar for several species of insects.
Milkweed and Swan Plant
Everyone loves the Monarch. Milkweed and Swan Plants
are as easy to grow as the Nettle! They are ideal for encouraging the children to begin an interest
in gardening for Butterflies as they provide food and nectar.
Muehlenbeckia
Grow some Muehlenbeckia/Pohuehue for the Copper Butterflies. This vine hosts the most
biodiversity of any plant in New Zealand, so will attract more then just Butterflies. Muehlenbeckia is easy to grow & best on a fence or trellis.
Nettles
Most people treat these herbs as weeds and this is causing a shortage of food for two of our
most common garden visitors, the Red and
Yellow Admiral amongst a few moths that also have
nettles as a food plant. If you want to control growth, then Nettles can be trimmed, but mind the
caterpillars! Maybe grow in pots, as this make handling them easier as well as keep them in a
suitable place.
Distribution Data
If you have recent distribution data that you would like to share, then please
Contact
nzButterfly.info with details.
This would be good starting material for the surveying mentioned above.
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