There has been substantial progress in examining and obtaining Boulder copper material for further study, and some preliminary work towards DNA sequencing. In November I visited probably the two most substantial boulder copper butterfly collections on the planet!
First, I visited Brian Lyford in Queenstown and spent an enjoyable afternoon looking through his magnificent and important personal collection. Brian is an exceptionally dedicated lepidopterist and told me that in recent years he has made a special effort to collect copper butterflies wherever he could find them throughout the South Island. His collection is rich in very recently collected material that should be ideal for DNA extraction and sequencing.
Among the significant known South Island populations, the only ones missing from Brian’s collection are the Milford Sound and Chrystalls Beach populations. He told me that he has been to Chrystalls Beach on more than one occasion and failed to find boulder coppers there, so there is extreme concern about the survival of this population. I was able to borrow 38 selected specimens from throughout the South Island for further study.
An important addition to the specimens seen so far (i.e. those currently in NZAC) was Brian’s material from Tiwai Point, Southland. It was interesting to note the remarkable white wing undersides that dominate in this population; however, there was also a Tiwai female with a strongly patterned underside, indicating that even here there is variation within the population.
I was also able to visit the massive collection of copper butterflies at the Otago Museum, built up by Robin Craw, Brian and Hamish Patrick. They have provided me with samples of the Milford Sounds and Chrystalls Beach populations since that time, so I now have a ‘full set’ of the Patrick & Patrick potential species for further study!
Image courtesy Wikipedia
Having obtained Tiwai specimens from Brian Lyford’s collection and impressed by their very white undersides, I went ahead and dissected a male from this population. As before, though, I could find no convincing characters in the male genitalia that would separate this population from others at the species level. Indeed, the genitalia appear extremely like those of specimens from the other end of the boulder copper’s range in the central North Island!
In January I removed a leg from each of 35 specimens of boulder copper (a mix of Brian Lyford’s and NZAC specimens collected in the last 20 years) and have placed these legs in labelled vials in the freezer and databased the corresponding specimens, in preparation for future DNA sequencing.