Monarch Butterfly Garden- Bring Home the Butterflies

Butterfly Garden Ideas and Gardening Tips to Attract Monarchs, Swallowtails, Hummingbirds, and other Precious Pollinators

  • Home
  • About
    • Affiliate Disclosure
    • Archives
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
  • Blog
    • Butterfly Gifts
      • Valentine Gift Ideas for a Butterfly Lover
      • Mother’s Day Gift Ideas
      • Monarch Chrysalis Pendants
      • Butterfly Gifts for Christmas
    • Inspirational Butterfly Photos
    • Garden Humor
    • Holiday Butterflies
  • Monarch Shop
  • Buy Milkweed
    • Stop Aphids
    • Milkweed Pests, Guests, & Diseases
  • Find Butterfly Plants
    • Butterfly Garden Tools & Resources
  • Butterfly Garden Ideas
    • Start or Improve your Monarch Butterfly Garden
    • Stop Monarch Predators
    • School Butterfly Garden Tips
    • Host Plants for Caterpillars
    • Container Garden Ideas
    • Wildlife Garden Ideas
    • Butterfly Garden Book for Monarchs- Instant Download
  • Raise Monarchs
    • Start Raising Monarch Butterflies Here…
    • Top Tools, Supplies, and Resources for Raising Monarch Butterflies
    • Prevent Monarch Diseases
    • Monarch Eggs
    • Monarch Caterpillars
    • Monarch Chrysalis
    • Adult Monarch Butterfly
    • Monarch Migration
    • Raising OTHER Butterflies
You are here: Home / Butterfly Garden Ideas / Monarch Butterflies New Zealand- Did You Know?

Monarch Butterflies New Zealand- Did You Know?

January 19 By Tony Gomez

5 Interesting Butterfly Facts about Monarch Butterflies New Zealand including what type of milkweeds the caterpillars eat and where do the butterflies overwinter?
Photo By Aileen | Auckland New Zealand

1. Many butterfly enthusiasts are surprised to discover that monarchs exist across several continents, including the 93% submerged former continent of Zealandia.

New Zealand is not a continent, but a small remaining piece of history.

2. The monarchs’ main food source in New Zealand comes from the Gomphocarpus genus. This includes Giant swan plant and swan plant, milkweed varieties that are also growing in popularity with gardeners (and monarchs) across the U.S.

See Photos and get more info on Giant Swan Plant (Gomphocarpus physocarpus)

See Photos and get more info on Swan Plant (Gomphocarpus fruticosus)

3. No matter how far you travel, you can never escape the dreaded Oleander aphids. The infamous orange milkweed pests torture gardeners worldwide:

10 Ways to Stop Aphids from Taking Over your Milkweed

4. Where do New Zealand monarch butterflies go for the winter?

New Zealand monarchs migrate to local overwintering grounds in more temperate NZ locations including Christchurch and Tauranga Bay. The temperature in these regions doesn’t typically go below 10° C or 50° F.

In the southern hemisphere, summer arrives in late December, and monarch season is in full swing.

5. The Monarch Butterfly New Zealand Trust was initially formed to protect the Tauranga Bay overwintering site, but has now expanded to support the monarch butterfly population across New Zealand.

Here is more about the trust and what you can do to help support New Zealand monarchs:

Monarch Butterfly New Zealand Trust Info

If you’d like to support monarchs in your own back yard, sign up for Free Butterfly Garden Tips and Raising Info for North American Monarch Butterflies
Share the Joy of Butterflies
  • 245
    Shares
  • 245
    Shares

Filed Under: Butterfly Garden Ideas, Milkweed Garden Ideas, Milkweed Garden Pests and Guests, Monarch Butterflies Tagged With: new zealand monarch

Comments

  1. Erin Graham says

    May 28 at 11:50 pm

    Hi. I’ve got 3 swan plants in central Otago that have 6 caterpillars on them. We just had a -4.6 frost today and they are inside now alive. But should I have done that? I don’t want to mess with their cycle. We were shocked we had caterpillars in April to be fair and they haven’t changed yet.

    • Tony Gomez says

      May 29 at 8:49 am

      Hi Erin, if there’s frost, you can certainly bring them in to finish raising. Cold temps slow down metamorphosis while warm temps speed it up…they shouldn’t have any issues adjusting if they are healthy.

  2. Izzy says

    May 25 at 8:05 pm

    Hi, we’ve got a monarch butterfly that has just hatched (end of may). Will she survive if we just let fly? Thanks, Izzy

    • Tony Gomez says

      May 26 at 11:23 am

      Hi Izzy, if she’s healthy, yes! More info on releasing monarchs here:

      Releasing Monarch Butterflies

  3. Natasha Dawes says

    March 18 at 10:28 pm

    Hi what do I do with my butterflies once they emerge? Is it best to let them just go outside and leave or can you keep them a day or two? In wanaka nz

    • Tony Gomez says

      March 19 at 9:38 am

      Hi Natasha, here’s info about releasing butterflies:

      Releasing Monarch Butterflies

  4. Tui says

    February 27 at 12:34 am

    I have sooooo many swan plants this year and have so many butterflies hanging around but we are yet to have even a single caterpillar. Does anyone know if I can get caterpillars from somewhere?

    • Tony Gomez says

      February 28 at 7:25 pm

      Hi Tui, you are in New Zealand? You might want to check with a local resource for some guidance:

      Monarch Butterfly NZ Trust

  5. Pam Sutton says

    February 5 at 3:43 pm

    We think our caterpillars are being eaten by paper wasps could that be right??

    • Tony Gomez says

      February 6 at 7:56 pm

      Hi Pam, I don’t know much about the NZ species of paper wasps, but they’re a big issue in north America so i’d say there’s a pretty good chance you’re right:

      13 Monarch Predators

  6. Donna Gilbertson says

    January 8 at 9:20 pm

    hi, can you please tell me where i can get a blue monarch butterfly plant?

    • Tony Gomez says

      January 10 at 9:46 am

      Hi Donna, I think you mean tweedia. I know there are strict laws about sending plants to NZ so you might be better off searching locally. There is info about the plant here and links to find plants/seeds at the bottom of the page:

      Tweedia Milkweed Blue Flowers

  7. Kharyn says

    May 25 at 11:20 pm

    Hi there – what should I do if a butterfly hatches and it’s wings are still crumpled or mismatched after a couple of days? It can’t fly so it isn’t able to source food or a mate.

    • Tony Gomez says

      May 26 at 12:34 pm

      Hi Kharyn, sorry to hear about your butterfly. You could keep it as a pet or euthanize if the butterfly is weak/sickly. Here’s more info about feeding adult butterflies if you keep it:

      Feeding and Releasing Adult Butterflies

  8. emily ventura buckler says

    March 2 at 12:28 pm

    I’ve never had this before, but it looks like I have rust on the stems of my milkweed. What do I do?

    • Tony Gomez says

      March 4 at 6:46 pm

      Hi Emily, check out this post for more info:

      Milkweed Diseases: Treatment and Prevention

Find it Here

Save More Monarchs

The Butterfly Growing Kit is a monarch butterfly kit that includes a cage for raising butterflies, floral tubes for milkweed stem cuttings, and a digital book about how to raise monarch butterflies indoors. Get the tools you need for raising healthy monarch butterflies...

Monarch Butterfly Kits to Raise Caterpillars into Butterflies

25 Garden Variety Milkweeds

25+ Garden Variety Milkweed Plants- Ornamental Asclepias Asperula is a Stunning Milkweed Variety for the Butterfly Garden. It's also an important Host Plant and Nectar Source for Spring Monarch Butterflies.

25 Milkweed Plant Ideas for North American Butterfly Gardens


Butterfly Gift Ideas?

Monarch transformation pendants are glass blown butterfly jewelry created to look like real life monarch chrysalises.

Butterfly Gift Ideas for All Occasions

Social Butterfly?

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

Featured Posts

Winter Sowing Milkweed Seeds for Monarch Butterflies: What supplies will you need and what household items can you use for sowing containers?

Winter Sowing Milkweed Seeds Part 1: Supply Checklist

3 Big Advantages of Winter Sown Milkweed + Winter Sowing Container ideas

© 2014-2020 Monarch Butterfly Garden | Privacy Policy