Tagging Monarchs

Tagged Monarch

Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge participates in the Monarch Watch tagging program. I have caught and tagged about 25 Monarchs and my boss the refuge’s wildlife biologist has tagged about the same number. The hardest part of the process is catching the butterflies. I probably missed as many as I caught, and one time I caught one that I had tagged the day before. The tags are basically small all weather stickers that are placed on the wing. The tags are all always put in the same place on each butterfly, as shown in the picture. Each tag includes the email address and phone number to contact when a tagged butterfly is found, the name of the program (Monarch Watch) and a unique tag ID of 3 letters and 3 numbers. Each tag is recorded on a data sheet that includes the date and location the butterfly was tagged, whether the Monarch was wild or reared and the sex. Sexing the Monarchs is not very difficult, other than it is easier if you can see the side of the wings that are together while holding the butterfly. Males have a small black bulge on each wing, while the females do not have this feature (see pictures below, arrows on Male photo point out the bulges). Sometimes the bulge is visible while holding the butterfly but I check the other side to make sure that I record the correct sex for each butterfly.   

Female Monarch

Male Monarch

Monarchs are amazing creatures that are declining rapidly due to habitat loss. Monarchs that are west of the Rocky Mountains all migrate to California, while the Monarch on the east side head south to a few acres of forest in Mexico. In the spring Monarchs in the east can migrate as far north as Canada. The most amazing fact is that the Monarchs that leave Canada in the fall and head to Mexico are the great grandchildren of the butterflies that flew to Canada in the spring; somehow they always return to the same few acres in Mexico. To find out more information about Monarchs and the Monarch Watch program visit: www.monarchwatch.org