''Lycaena boldenarum'', the boulder copper, is a species of butterfly which is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

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 is found on both North Island and South Island in a wide variety of open habitats including grassland, shingle and sand dunes. They are normally only active in bright sunny conditions and their flight is usually low to the ground. The ''boldenarum'' part of the species name given by the Scottish entomologist Adam White in honour of his first wife, Helen and her sister Frances, whose maiden name was Bolden. It shares the Maori name ''pepe para riki'' with two congeners the common copper ('' Lycaena salustius'') and the glade copper ('' Lycaena feredayi'').

Description

The wingspan is 17–27 mm and this is the second smallest species of butterfly found in New Zealand, the southern blue ('' Zizina otis oxleyi'') being the smallest. The underside of the hindwings of ''Lycaena boldenarum'' vary in their markings, with some being pale and faintly patterned while others may be boldly marked with blackish marbling on a grey background. In the males the upperwings have a purple sheen but the females show a more usual pattern for ''Lycaena'' butterflies.

Distribution

Endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to New Zealand, it is widespread on the South Island but on the North Island it is restricted to the

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service ...

, Central Plateau and

Hawkes Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

areas.

Habitat

''Lycaena boldenarum'' is found in a wide variety of open habitats including grassland, shingle, sand dunes and braided rivers. Its common name does not refer to boulders but is derived from the scientific name which refers to Helen Bolden, the maiden name of the first wife of Adam White the naturalist who named this species, and that of her sister, Frances.

Biology

The larvae feed on '' Muehlenbeckia axillaris'' but '' Rumex flexousus'' has also been recorded as a food plant, and it is possible that other ''

Muehlenbeckia ''Muehlenbeckia'' or maidenhair is a genus of flowering plants in the family Polygonaceae. It is native to the borders of the Pacific, including South and North America, Papua New Guinea and Australasia. It has been introduced elsewhere, includin ...

'' species are also used. The single egg is laid either on a stem or on the underside of leaves. The caterpillar varies in colour and may be olive green, yellowish green, pink or reddish brown, but there is always a diamond-shaped mark on the

prothorax The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum ( dorsal), the prosternum ( ventral), and the propleuron ( lateral) o ...

. It overwinters when half grown and in the spring it resumes feeding, hiding beneath small stones when inactive. The larvae are often found in association with '' Monomorium'' ants but a symbiotic link or dependency has not been demonstrated. The

pupa A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in thei ...

e are either light brown or reddish, but both forms show an abdomen speckled with black. The pupa is secured to a dead leaf on the ground by a cremaster and a few loose strands of silk.

Subspecies

*''Lycaena boldenarum boldenarum'' *''Lycaena boldenarum caerulea'' (Salmon, 1946) *''Lycaena boldenarum ianthina'' (Salmon, 1946)

Conservation status of ''Lycaena boldenarum ianthina''

Hoare et al. classified ''Lycaena ianthina'' as being Nationally Critical under the New Zealand Threat Classification system.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4043278 Butterflies described in 1862 Lycaena Butterflies of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Taxa named by Adam White (zoologist) Endemic insects of New Zealand