#boulder copper

Photo by @purrdence. She's certain done better that I usually do, trying to sneak up on these small alert butterflies.

Aotearoa has quite a variety of Lycaena butterflies, but many of them are still awaiting proper description. This one of the few that actually has been. This one is a male, showing some of the intense purple iridescence that distinguishs them from the females.

Here's a photo from the perfect angle -

photo by Mike Bowie on iNaturalist.

It was named tama as a distinct species by New Zealand lawyer, artist and amateur entomologist R. W. Fereday (1820-1899), after "a traditionary Maori chief of that name." Feredey collected at least 616 different species of moth and butterfly in New Zealand, and sent them back to scientists in Europe. He was also an advocate for using inspectors to control for pests in incoming goods, and for importing bumblebees to improve clover pollination.

L. tama lives in the Mackenzie Basin, the upper reachs of the Canterbury Plain, and the drier eastern slopes of the Southern Alps. The caterpillars feed on  pohuehue (Muehlenbeckia complexa).