The Weta (11) 31(1):
©New Zealand Entomological Society, Inc.

Research article
Spread of the long-tailed blue butterfly in New Zealand

B. Patrick ^*,1, , , and H. Patrick <sup>,1

1</sup> Alexandra Museum, Box 308, Alexandra (bpatrick@xtra.co.nz)
^*Corresponding author.

Abstract: The long-tailed blue butterfly Lampides boeticus L. (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) is a pan-tropical (but not the Americas) migratory species that was first recorded in New Zealand in 1965 (Wise 1969, Gibbs 1980, Dugdale 1988). These first records on 20 November from Waiheke Island, Auckland, were followed closely by records from St Helliers Bay, Avondale, Ellerslie and Sunnyvale in the Auckland area. Wise later found the species in March 1968 much further north at Tauranga Bay, Northland (Wise 1969). Larvae and eggs were found on sweet pea (Lathyrus sp.) and gorse (Ulex europaeus).
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