Almost all of the butterflies in New Zealand are native and most are endemic. Compared to big, colourful species from...
Butterflies and moths form the insect order Lepidoptera. The word ‘Lepidoptera’ comes from the Greek ‘lepis’ meaning scale and ‘petron’...
Names are important. They identify who we are and where we come from. But sometimes, names don’t tell the whole...
Discover more about the red admiral butterfly, winner of the 2024 Bug of the Year, and how we can help the butterflies of Aotearoa New Zealand....
In Spring 2020 Countdown developed a fantastic collection of insect cards and an album full of amazing facts and activities all about insects found in Aotearoa...
One of New Zealand’s most well known insects is the wētā, of the Orthoptera order, but there are thousands of other insects species, some of which...
What is an insect and should we really care about these creepy crawlies? In a word – yes. As American biologist Edward O Wilson puts it,...
This article introduces students to a citizen science project that tags and tracks monarch butterflies to see where they go to overwinter. It notes the importance...
We know that some animals make amazing long-distance journeys called migrations. This article explores some of the technology scientists use to track the animals and their...
Moths are members of the order Lepidoptera, but these mostly nocturnal creatures are often in the shadow of the brighter, day-flying butterflies. New Zealand has fewer...
Names are important. They identify who we are and where we come from. But sometimes, names don’t tell the whole story. For example, the Oxford Dictionary...
Moths make up the third most diverse insect group in New Zealand, and their day/night habits are also diverse. While most moths are nocturnal (active at...
Moths, along with butterflies, are part of the order Lepidoptera (from the Greek for scaled wings). Over 90% of New Zealand’s Lepidoptera species are endemic, found...
The MothNet Shedding Light on the Night and Ahi Pepe Mothnet projects involve the collection and identification of moth species. The project is a partnership between...
When Hub writers, Paula Lourie and Angela Schipper, first raised the topic of creating a range of articles about butterflies for the Science Learning Hub, they...
Position: Founding trustee and Trust secretary, Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust Pūrerehua Aotearoa (formerly the Monarch Butterfly New Zealand Trust). Field: Conservation of native...
Big, bold butterflies like the monarch are easy to spot. If you want to see some of our natives, careful observation is the key. null
Butterflies are appealing insects. We actively encourage them to visit our gardens, but white butterflies (Pieris rapae rapae) are an exception. We consider them unwelcome dinner...
Citizen scientists are volunteers who participate in scientific projects. They work in partnership with scientists to answer interesting and relevant questions. When involved in environmental projects,...
New Zealand’s most identifiable butterfly is the monarch (Danaus plexippus). Although found in many places around the world, the monarch is considered a New Zealand native...
Butterflies are the exhibitionists of the insect world. For many invertebrates, camouflage is the best defence against predators, so how do brightly coloured butterflies protect themselves?...
Butterflies and moths form the insect order Lepidoptera. The word ‘Lepidoptera’ comes from the Greek ‘lepis’ meaning scale and ‘petron’ meaning wing. When you look at...
What do kiwi, tuatara and many butterflies have in common in New Zealand? They are all native animals that the average person rarely sees in the...
Butterflies make very poor fossils. They have no bones or other solid matter that can be preserved. Therefore, unlike other animals, we can’t use their fossils...
Almost all of the butterflies in New Zealand are native and most are endemic. Compared to big, colourful species from other countries, our native butterflies are...
Imagine a creature that turns moths into mummies by trapping them in an underground grave before emerging out of their neck to begin the cycle again....
Fred the Thread is the caterpillar of a native moth (Houdinia flexilissima) and is quite possibly the world’s thinnest caterpillar. Fred was found following studies conducted...
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