The forest ringlet (''Dodonidia helmsii''), also known as Helms' butterfly, or te pēpepe pōuri or pepe pouri in the

Māori language Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...

, is a rare

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species ha ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It is the only species in the genus ''Dodonidia''.

Taxonomy

The forest ringlet was first described by

Richard William Fereday Richard William Fereday ( 1820–30 August 1899) was a New Zealand lawyer, entomologist and artist. Early life He was born in Ettingshall, Staffordshire, England in 1820 to John Turton Fereday, an ironmaster and his wife, Ann Cecilia Heming ...

from a specimen collected in the

Paparoa Range The Paparoa Range is a mountain range in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. It was the first New Zealand land seen by a European – Abel Tasman in 1642. Part of the range has the country's highest protection as a national par ...

by a Mr R. Helms of

Greymouth Greymouth () (Māori language, Māori: ''Māwhera'') is the largest town in the West Coast, New Zealand, West Coast List of regions in New Zealand, region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The populat ...

. Fereday gave it the

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''helmsi'', but would not speculate as to its genus. The species was properly named in 1884 by

Arthur Gardiner Butler Arthur Gardiner Butler F.L.S., F.Z.S. (27 June 1844 – 28 May 1925) was an English entomologist, arachnologist and ornithologist. He worked at the British Museum on the taxonomy of birds, insects, and spiders. Biography Arthur Gardiner B ...

, who coined the genus ''Dodonidia'', from its resemblance to the Asian ''Dodona'' butterflies, and corrected the spelling of the species name to ''D. Helmsii'' (now ''D. helmsii''). Because it was named after Helms, it is properly known as "Helms' butterfly", although this is often misspelled as "Helm's butterfly". The name "forest ringlet" is more commonly used.

Ecology

The forest ringlet caterpillar is nocturnal and feeds on "cutty grass" (''

Gahnia ''Gahnia'' (sawsedge, saw-sedge) is a genus of sedges native to China, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and a number of Pacific Islands. The common name is due to the toothed margins. It often forms tussocks. Species Accepted ...

'') and bush snowgrass (''

Chionochloa ''Chionochloa'' is a genus of tussock grass in the family Poaceae, found primarily in New Zealand with one known species in New Guinea and another on Lord Howe Island (part of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Austr ...

'') from spring to early autumn. Adults live for three or four weeks and are fast-flying, found in January and February in clearings or near forest edges, mainly in beech (''

Nothofagus ''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere, found across southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Guin ...

'') forest north of about

Lewis Pass Lewis Pass is the northernmost of the three main mountain passes through the Southern Alps in the South Island of New Zealand. With an elevation of 907 metres, it is slightly lower than Arthur's Pass and higher than Haast Pass. The pass is ...

Conservation

''Dodonidia helmsii'' was once widespread in New Zealand, including the Wellington and Auckland area, but has become significantly rarer over the last 50 years. There are two causes: the increasing rarity in lowland areas of the sedges that are its food plant, and the introduction of predatory

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...

s to New Zealand that prey on its

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e. Forest ringlets have disappeared from forest below 400 m altitude, but are still found at 600 m or higher, the altitudinal limit for the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and common wasps. This species has been classified as having the "At Risk, Relict" conservation status under the

New Zealand Threat Classification System The New Zealand Threat Classification System is used by the Department of Conservation to assess conservation priorities of species in New Zealand. The system was developed because the IUCN Red List, a similar conservation status system, had s ...

References

External links

* The forest ringlet discussed on RNZ ''Critter of the Week''
23 September 2016

Forest Ringlet Butterfly Project
fundraising for research into ''D. helmsii'' decline {{Taxonbar, from=Q773434 Butterflies of New Zealand Dodonidia Butterflies described in 1884 Endangered biota of New Zealand Endemic insects of New Zealand

Taxonomy

Ecology

Conservation

See also

References

External links