Monarch butterflies give Waikato winter the royal tick of approval

Saturday, 11 July 2026

Monarch butterflies sunning themselves in a large tree at the back of Te Awamutu Stadium.

A tree at Te Awamutu Stadium has come alive with monarch butterflies as they hunker down for the winter.

According to one expert, sightings of the iconic black and orange insects are on the decline, making a swarm overwintering in the town particularly encouraging.

Nearby resident Fleur Ryan said she first noticed the monarchs in the tree about four years ago.

Local resident Fleur Ryan has counted 72 monarch butterflies, but believes there are more.

“I see butterflies on my property all the time…they go all over into the different gardens, obviously trying to find nectar in the various plants in the gardens around the area.”

She had also seen the butterflies mating, which was unusual for this time of year.

It seemed like the population was growing, she said, though it was hard to be sure if this was the case. At last count, she and her son had seen 72 butterflies in the tree, but they suspected it could be more as some were hard to spot.

Pest wasps, pesticide use, and building developments were contributing to shrinking monarch populations around the country.

Ryan had gotten in touch with the Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust because she wanted to see the monarchs protected.

Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust founding trustee Jacqui Knight said after breeding throughout the summer, monarch butterflies go into diapause - a period when they will not grow, develop, or reproduce - as the days get shorter and the temperature drops.

Knight explained that on sunny days, the monarchs “warm up enough that they can leave the tree and go and find nectar from flowers, top up the energy reserves, and then before it gets too cold, they fly back to the tree and they wait until the next sunny day to go and top up their reserves”.

Monarch butterflies go into diapause - a period when will not grow, develop, or reproduce - as the days get shorter and the temperature drops.

When the weather turned bad, they sheltered in the tree from wind, rain, frost, and snow.

She said Waipā District Council had confirmed no tree work was planned for the area during the winter.

Compared to other butterfly species in New Zealand, the monarch is far larger and more widely recognised, Knight said.

“Monarch butterflies will sit right in front of you and let you get really up close to them and look at them.”

But pest wasps, pesticide use, and building developments were contributing to shrinking monarch populations around the country.

These days, Knight said, she received very few calls from people reporting to see more monarchs.

“What I do count is all the people who contact me and say, ‘where are the monarch butterflies?’”

However, there were ways people could support the species, she said.

“They can plant suitable flowers for them to get nectar from…plant swan plants in the spring and summer when they become available in the garden centre.”