A mayday call has been made for New Zealand’s monarch butterflies amid concerns the population here is under threat.
Current records suggest the population has dropped drastically over the last two decades, and butterfly enthusiasts are calling on the public to help monitor those that remain so they can protect them better.
Moths and Butterflies Trust spokesperson Bianca Woyak said: “I’m totally worried about monarch butterflies in New Zealand.”
The species is currently ‘wintering over’, a form of hibernation, with spots across Christchurch being monitored. Other parts of the country don’t have many, if any.
“It’s a sleep-like state. In New Zealand, they’ve developed this behaviour to hang in trees for the winter,” Woyak said
She attributed the rapid decline in numbers to pesticides, disease and predators.
“Rats will go up the trees while they’re overwintering and just be able to snack like popcorn on a whole lot of them,” she said.
Over summer, 4000 butterflies were tagged so their numbers and movement could be monitored. Moths and Butterflies Trust urged anyone who saw a butterfly with a tag to log it on the i-naturalist website.
“It helps us know numbers and where they go so we can protect areas,” Butterfly Enthusiast Alex Weir said
Woyak said all people needed to do was look up.
“We need to help our insects, and our monarchs need help. If you want to see these beautiful orange and black butterflies flying around, then you need to help them”.
