Today’s photo of the week is a boulder copper butterfly — one of the many endemic species of butterfly found in New Zealand.
Boulder copper butterflies can be found throughout the South Island and in central areas of the North Island, but are more commonly encountered in the upland areas like the Southern Alps and the central plateau.
This beauty was photographed in Canterbury’s Craigieburn Forest Park by Jon Sullivan | CC BY-NC 2.0
Today’s photo of the week is of a red-crowned parakeet/kākāriki taking a bath in a stream in Rotorua. Kākāriki, means ‘small green parrot’ in Māori.
There are five main species of kākāriki. The red-crowned species is distinguished by a bright crimson forehead, crown and a streak extending back beyond the eyes.
Attacks by introduced predators such as stoats and rats are the main threat to kākāriki.
This photo was taken by Jackson Wood | CC BY-NC 2.0.
Our photo of the week is this beautiful Powelliphanta snail, a large, air-breathing, carnivorous land snail endemic to New Zealand.
Their shells come in an array of colours and patterns, ranging from hues of red and brown to yellow and black. Their favourite prey is earthworms, but they are also known to eat slugs. Powelliphanta snails are an integral part of New Zealand’s unique fauna, and were as important in evolutionary terms as kiwi, kākāpō or moa.
Predation and habitat loss are the major threats to this species, although their outlook is improving with DOC undertaking work to protect these snails on the West Coast through long-term monitoring, translocation and captive breeding.
This photo that was taken by DOC’s John Mason.
