One-of-a-Kind Valentine’s Day gift

MONARCH BUTTERFLY

NEW ZEALAND TRUST

PRESS RELEASE

One-of-a-Kind Valentine’s Day gift

The Monarch Butterfly NZ Trust is raising funds to make its Christchurch events this summer possible. And as a result they are auctioning on TradeMe the naming rights to their star butterfly, a beautiful, large orange and black Monarch.

The eggs for this ‘star’ will be laid this week. Having a special butterfly named after you would be quite unique and very exciting.

Butterflies take four weeks to ‘make’ and not only will the butterfly taking a lead role in our Christchurch exhibit be named by the winner of the auction, but the winner will also receive regular emails and photos of their butterfly as it grows and transforms, plus on Valentine’s Day, 14 February a personalised certificate.

The auction has the support of TradeMe, who rate it as one of their cool auctions . The winners of the auction will get to see their butterfly close up and personal before it goes on show in the display in the Canterbury Museum.

“Eventually this Monarch will be released into a Christchurch garden where it will no doubt meet up with another Monarch, mate and continue the life cycle process,” said Jacqui Knight, secretary. “We hope that we can generate some more funds for our displays which are fun and educational–but aren’t cheap to put on.”

The Monarch Butterfly NZ Trust was formed to protect an overwintering habitat of the beautiful native Monarch butterfly, but today their activities include the conservation of all NZ’s species of butterflies and moths as well as habitat.

“We rely on the help and support of volunteers and donations,” said Norm Twigge, chairman. “There are many organisations working to protect kiwi, kokako and kauri but NZ has very few species of butterflies and they are becoming less known each year.”

NZ’s endemic Red Admiral is a classic example.

“World-renowned lepidopterist Nigel Venters says that the NZ Red Admiral, Bassaris gonerilla, known as Kahukura to the Maori, is the most beautiful in the world,” Norm said. “It’s found only in NZ but in many places now you don’t see it any more. Admirals breed on stinging nettle–and gardeners and developers think this is a ‘nasty weed’ which has to be eradicated.”

People are also keen to know how to help the Monarch in their own garden, finding out more about its host plants and a range of plants to provide nectar to butterflies and bees. So great is the demand that the Monarch Butterfly NZ Trust now runs an on-line course in creating butterfly habitat.

“We have rolled our butterfly fauna back to the mountains and far-flung places,” added Norm Twigge. “so that now many once familiar species are no longer found in cities, towns or surrounding countryside.”

“Sadly, young New Zealanders are no longer familiar with even our most common butterflies because of the elimination of them from our cities, towns and countryside. We hope to change that.”
ends

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