The Moths and Butterflies of NZ Trust (MBNZT, formerly the Monarch Butterfly NZ Trust) is working to save the forest ringlet/pepe pouri, with the assistance of a funding grant from the Department of Internal Affairs.
Dodonidia helmsii is an endemic species. It is an iconic, elegant, nocturnal butterfly.
In New Zealand's Threat Classification System the forest ringlet is listed as "At Risk Relict", having undergone a documented decline because of introduced wasps and loss of native food sources. It now occupies less than 10 per cent of its former range: clearings near forest edges, mainly in beech forest north of Lewis Pass.
Until the 1970s, forest ringlets were found throughout New Zealand districts, ranges and regional parks.
Forest ringlets have disappeared from forest below 400m altitude, but are still found at 600m or higher, the attitudinal limit for the German and common wasps.