''Lycaena rauparaha'', Rauparaha's copper, Fereday’s copper or mokarakare
is a species of butterfly endemic to
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. It acquired its English
common name
In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...
because it occurred in the same coastal areas as the rangatira (chief) and war leader of
Ngāti Toa
Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Toarangatira or Ngāti Toa Rangatira, is a Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) based in the southern North Island and in the northern South Island of New Zealand. Its ''rohe'' (tribal area) extends from Whanganui in the north, Palmerston N ...
Maori,
Te Rauparaha
Te Rauparaha (c.1768 – 27 November 1849) was a Māori rangatira (chief) and war leader of the Ngāti Toa tribe who took a leading part in the Musket Wars, receiving the nickname "the Napoleon of the South". He was influential in the original ...
.
Distribution and habitat
''Lycaena rauparaha'' can be found along the western and northern coasts of
North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
and the northern coast of
South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
,
where they live mainly among coastal dunes,
though they can be found in other coastal habitats where their food plants are present.
Biology
Immature stages
Eggs are laid singularly on the underside of a leaf of a food plant, typically ''
Muehlenbeckia complexa
''Muehlenbeckia complexa'', commonly known as ''pohuehue'' ( mi, pōhuehue), although this name also applies to some other climbers such as ''Muehlenbeckia australis''.
Description
''Muehlenbeckia complexa'' is one of 50 species of shrubs, that ...
''
although the species has also been recorded on ''
Muehlenbeckia axillaris
''Muehlenbeckia axillaris'' (creeping wire vine, sprawling wirevine, matted lignum) is a low evergreen shrub, forming wiry mats up to about in diameter, native to New Zealand, and the Australian states of Tasmania, New South Wales and Victoria. ...
'',
and are greenish-blue with white ridges.
The larvae are velvet green and closely resemble those of ''
Lycaena salustius''.
It has the typical lappets and ridges of ''Lycaena'' species.
It overwinters as larva, after the first
moult
In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is the manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body (often, but not always, an outer ...
, possibly in response to seasonal unavailability of its
deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
food plant.
Pupation occurs in October. Pupae are green-yellow with red-brown wing casings, similar in appearance to those of ''Lycaena salustius'', but without the latter's black abdominal spots.
Pupae are hidden on the ground under a dead leaf to which they secure themselves.
Adults
''Lycaena rauparaha'' has a wing span of 25 to 31 mm, and is less variable in appearance than other ''Lycaena'' species occurring in New Zealand.
According to G.W. Gibbs (1980), it resembles the other species in (what was at the time known as) the ''salustius-rauparaha-feredayi'' complex, but unlike ''
Lycaena salustius'', its wing veins are marked with single, not double, black lines; and unlike ''
Lycaena feredayi
''Lycaena feredayi'', the glade copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is endemic to New Zealand.
The wingspan is 25–32 mm. Adults are on wing from November to December and from February to the beginning of April.
Identific ...
'', the underside of its hindwings is either or ; whereas in ''L. feredayi'', the underside of the hindwings of is either yellow at the base with a brown central patch, or fully brown-orangish.
Female specimens have stronger vein markings than males.
''Lycaena rauparaha'' has a quick, jerky flight pattern that remains near the ground.
They generally do not travel far from their larval food plant.
See also
*
Butterflies of New Zealand
The butterflies of New Zealand include twelve endemism, endemic species, as well as several introduced and migrant species. Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths, is the third largest insect order (biology), order in New Zealand.
...
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q13486749
Butterflies described in 1877
Lycaena
Butterflies of New Zealand