Saving the Beautiful Monarch Butterfly

Maurice Mehlhopf has lived at 4 Collingwood Street, in Freeman’s Bay since 1978. Recently this local resident has been doing his bit to save the beautiful monarch butterfly which is under increasing pressure to survive.

Caterpillars have scaled the heights of the power pole above the swan plants and are pupating high above the street. Some have crawled along the phone line from the pole into Maurice’s home. More than a dozen are spread out along the cable.

This has been a labour of great love by Maurice. I neglected to ask him if he had tried to name any of them, but then it would be hard to sort each one out from its identical siblings.

We have been hearing recently how monarch butterflies are threatened - both here and around the world.

One of the threats to monarchs is the so-called ‘ social’ wasps, brought to New Zealand to help to control the cabbage white butterfly, but its behaviour towards the much loved monarch butterfly is decidedly anti-social.

The founder of Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust, Jackie Knight, is worried the increase in wasps could even push the monarch towards extinction.

Entomologist Brian Patrick agrees there is a significant decrease in monarchs, but he blames pesticides and herbicides as well as wasps. In the US, Patrick says, wasps and herbicides have cut the monarch numbers by 90% in the last 20 years.

The US is considering giving the monarch protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Maurice Mehlhopf is doing his bit for monarch butterfly conservation right here in the middle of Ponsonby.

Ponsonby News says well done Maurice. (JOHN ELLIOTT)

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