Monarchs of the skies

Seeing a Monarch butterfly is a sure-fire way to bring a smile to anyone lucky enough to see it. But for a small but dedicated group of hobbyists, breeding the butterflies is much more rewarding, as Adrienne Matthews discovers.

Monarch butterflies with their vibrant orange wings laced with black are a favourite of gardeners the world over. Not only do they feed on nectar to gather up energy to lay eggs and create new generations, they are an important part of the ecosystem, pollinating plants as they go.

They are the most recognised and studied butterfly anywhere and have been lauded in literature and music throughout history, not only for their beauty but their extraordinary flying powers.

Unlike the North America Monarchs who are famous for their migrations of three to four weeks from the Canadian/USA border to Mexico where they overwinter, many of the last of the season generation of New Zealand Monarchs find places close to home to spend the winter months.

Washbourn Gardens, Isel Park and the Queens Gardens are some of the many places that provide safe havens, as one of New Zealand’s major butterfly breeders, Ian Knight, explains.

Ian began breeding the butterflies over fifteen years ago when his youngest daughter told him about the release of butterflies at a wedding she was conducting.

Finding only one major breeder in the country, he researched what was required and constructed a lean-to on his and wife Jill’s house to begin the process himself. This soon morphed into a major venture with a number of tunnel houses built to manage every stage of the butterflies’ development, protecting them from the Asian paper wasp which is their biggest predator here and the South African praying mantis.

“Critical to our success was the production of large numbers of the Monarch’s specific food source, Asclepiadoideae, commonly called milkweed,” he says.

Whereas there are many different varieties of the plant in the Americas, thought to be where the Monarch butterfly originated, New Zealand only has the swan plant and the tropical version Asclepias curassavica.

“The great thing about swan plants is that even when they have been stripped of leaves, in three to four weeks they will sprout again so it is vital not to pull them out,” says Ian. “If you have a continuous supply you can keep up to five generations of butterflies breeding in a season. You need to keep up a planting regime as well. With each female able to lay up to four hundred eggs you can run out of food very fast. Fortunately, the plants are very easy to grow and the seed from one pod will provide enough plants for a suburban garden.”

Covid put an end to the demand for Ian’s butterfly for ceremonies business but with a great love for them creatures he still raises many hundreds a year. “I get out into the tunnel houses in the morning when the sun is just up. The butterflies are waking up and starting to fly around and I say to myself ‘that is why I do this,’” he says.

Fortunately, many people in the region have become passionate about raising Monarchs. Gabi Bedufurtig in Atawhai first heard about the damage Asian paper wasps were doing to butterfly populations seven years ago and decided she had to do something to help. “I started with a small netted area over a group of potted swan plants, and as the plants spread throughout the garden along with an array of mosquito nets.”

Four years into the project her partner Norbert Hennings built a butterfly house for her birthday. “I was so excited,” she says. “It was a proper sanctuary safe from predators and it has raised beds so I am able to plant many swan plants and am not so reliant on the ones in pots. Monarchs are in decline the world over due to predators and the loss of habitats,” she says. “We try to be good to nature here and look after our corner of the world. To get them to the stage where I can let them go is something very special. I still can’t believe that out of that tiny little egg the whole process that evolves creates these beautiful butterflies.”

Mike Evans in Tāhunanui was at one stage the largest breeder of Monarchs in the region and raised up to three thousand a year. “It was a fantastic experience,” he says. “It was a huge commitment. When you are growing large numbers, you can get disease outbreaks. There are twelve diseases Monarchs can get and only three you can identify with the eye, so you have to be on the ball and quick to deal with any outbreak.”

Aphids are a major problem for swan plants, but some years ago the biocontrol Aphidius parasitic wasp became available from Bioforce in Auckland. “They are well established now in the Tāhunanui area at least,” says Mike, where there are a number of people raising the butterflies successfully.

Gabi, on the other hand, spends an hour each evening in her butterfly sanctuary, squashing by hand the bright orange aphids and washing the plants down.

Gail Devangh Farah breeds Monarchs in Golden Bay. “I started during the Covid lockdowns,” she says. “I saw the first butterfly hatch on a neighbour’s plant and it was so amazing I just had to do it myself. I started with three swan plants and it has grown from there.”

She now releases around three hundred Monarchs a year on a suburban section near the beach at Pohara. “As soon as I see eggs on the swan plants in the garden, I put them in the butterfly castles that I purchased from the Moths and Butterflies Trust of NZ,” she says. The four castles stand over a metre tall and are covered with fine netting. “I pop the swan plants in and the caterpillars can munch away undisturbed until they hang on the top as chrysalises. When they hatch I release them into the garden.”

“I have never seen so many butterflies as this year. For the first time I brought the castles inside during the winter so they weren’t exposed to any frost and had a head start as soon as the warm weather came.”

“The biggest problem I have had raising the Monarchs, apart from the predators which included hedgehogs, has been getting enough spray-free swan plants,” she says. “You have to be so careful that the plants you buy have not been sprayed or they will kill the caterpillars.”

Raising the butterflies in Nelson has become a passion for those of all ages. Betty Salter at eightyfive has loved them since she was a child. “My garden is a jungle of swan plants and I raise around four-hundred-and-fifty a year,” she says. “It is awful that predators are decimating the species and I am doggedly determined they won’t win.” Betty has even begun a Monarch butterfly blog on her Facebook page to help people who want to learn more.

Mother of toddlers, Jodie Simpson, is completely inspired by the transformation of egg to butterfly. “When I see the chrysalises turn clear I know they will hatch that day so I open the window for them.

It takes about a day for their wings to dry out. I have hatched around a hundred in the last few months and my little girls love to watch them. I think it is so important to show them kindness toward living things. It teaches them compassion and care and connection to Papatūānuku (Mother Earth).

Helping Monarch butterflies to flourish

Robin Cooper who lives in Tāhunanui is one of New Zealand’s experts on Monarch butterflies.

Paper wasps

“The best way to eradicate Asian paper wasps is to spray their nests in the evening when the worker wasps have come home,” he says. “Always be careful as, although they normally won’t harm you, the nests have a guard wasp which will go for you and can provide a nasty sting.”

Feeding the caterpillars

Never feed them anything except milkweed (swan plant and Asclepias curassavica). There is a common message often spread that it is okay to feed them pumpkin. It is definitely NOT safe for them. It causes deformity as the butterfly is developing, and usually death.

Feeding the butterflies

Butterflies need an abundance of nectar to feed on in the few weeks before they lay their eggs. Examples of favourite flowers are those of the swan plants, alyssum, dahlias, echinacea, marigolds, zinnias and marigolds. Most flowers that bees enjoy, butterflies will as well.

Ian Knight on the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly

The eggs are laid on the swan plant leaves where they remain for two weeks.

The eggs hatch into caterpillars. Over a two-week period, they grow from 1mm to around 50mm, consuming large amounts of food. The caterpillars grow so fast they can shed their skins up to five times before they reach the chrysalis stage.

The chrysalis forms – these can be seen hanging and are initially green. Within the chrysalis the caterpillar completely dissolves into a goop before a butterfly begins to form. This takes two weeks.

The chrysalis then changes colour to a dark brown and the butterfly emerges.

The butterfly then feeds on nectar from flowers before mating and laying eggs so the whole process can begin again.