If you haven’t ordered your tagging kits yet, there is still plenty of time before the migration begins – but the tags are going fast. If you would like to participate in monarch tagging this fall, please place your order for tags as soon as possible so that you don’t miss out.

Monarch Watch Tagging Kits are only shipped to areas east of the Rocky Mountains.

As usual, each tagging kit includes a set of specially manufactured monarch butterfly tags (you specify quantity), a datasheet, tagging instructions, and additional monarch / migration information. Tagging Kits for the 2011 season start at only $15 and include your choice of 25, 50, 100, 200, 300, or 500 tags.

Monarch Watch Tagging Kits and other materials (don’t forget to pick up a butterfly net!) are available via the Monarch Watch Shop online at Shop.MonarchWatch.org

HAPPY TAGGING!

Approximately 2500 records represent monarchs observed/recovered in the U.S. or Canada and more than 12,500 records represent monarchs recovered at the overwintering sites in Mexico.

Anyone may search the database via monarchwatch.org/recoveries

Please note that this is very much a work in progress – we working on acquiring the funding necessary to “scrub” the data (clean up any errors) and create more robust applications for searching and data visualization. Also, you will likely notice records with missing data – this is often due to taggers not returning their datasheets at the end of the tagging season. We are in the process of tracking down the missing data and will update the database as we recover the information.

If you would like to help fund this project, please see our Donation page for details about ways to give.

monarchwatch.org/blog/category/mexico/

We have posted a preliminary list of 2009 season tag recoveries (from Canada, the U.S., and Mexico) and will be adding to it as additional reports come in. Rest assured, we will eventually have all of the recovery data out of Mexico (it is likely to be a large number of tags due to the storms) and will add them to our tag recovery database as soon as possible.

Stay tuned!

If you haven’t ordered your tagging kits yet, there is still plenty of time before the migration begins – but the tags are going fast. If you would like to participate in monarch tagging this fall, please place your order for tags as soon as possible so that you don’t miss out.

Monarch Watch Tagging Kits are only shipped to areas east of the Rocky Mountains.

As usual, each tagging kit includes a set of specially manufactured monarch butterfly tags (you specify quantity), a datasheet, tagging instructions, and additional monarch / migration information. Standard Tagging Kits for the 2009 season start at only $15 and include your choice of 25, 50, 100, 200, 300, or 500 tags. Sets of 20 Mini Tagging Kits (5 tags each) are available for $40 – for Nature Center programs, etc. that would like to distribute a small number of tags to participants.

Monarch Watch Tagging Kits and other materials (don’t forget to pick up a butterfly net!) are available via the Monarch Watch Shop online at Shop.MonarchWatch.org

HAPPY TAGGING!

2008 Season Monarch Watch Tags – Mexico Recoveries

If you have any questions about this list please feel free to drop us a line anytime!

I have provided two versions of these briefing documents, a “top ten” (included below) based on questions frequently asked by reporters and a longer version (available at monarchwatch.org/press) that covers another 30 or so aspects of monarch biology.

MIGRATION
Hundreds of millions of monarch butterflies migrate from eastern North America to Mexico each fall to overwinter in the high elevation oyamel fir forests of the Transvolcanic Range of central Mexico. Monarchs are unable to survive freezing temperatures and those breeding in temperate regions must escape to moderate climates to reproduce the next season.

GENERATIONS
Most of the monarchs joining the migration each fall are 3-4 generations removed from those that made the journey the previous year.

TIME AND DISTANCE
The migration begins in mid August in the north and in September at mid latitudes. The migration progresses at a pace of 25-30 miles per day, although individual butterflies often fly further during periods when conditions are favorable. Most monarchs originate from locations more than 1500 linear miles from the overwintering sites. The duration of the migration appears to be 2-2.5 months.

RECOLONIZATION OF THE SUMMER BREEDING AREAS
The monarch breeding areas in eastern North America are recolonized by two generations of monarchs; the overwintering butterflies that move north in the spring and their offspring. The latter reach maturity and begin flying N/NE in late April, reaching the northern limits of milkweeds by mid-June.

LONGEVITY
Migratory monarchs that survive the winter in Mexico are 8-9 months of age and may be the longest lived of all butterflies. In contrast, reproductive monarchs breeding during the summer months only live 2-5 weeks due to the high cost of reproduction.

NUMBERS
Monarch populations are measured as the number of hectares (1 hectare = 2.47 acres) of trees occupied by clustering butterflies in mid-December of each year. The size of the population has varied from 2.19 to 18.2 hectares over the last two decades; averaging close to 9 hectares in the 90s and between 5-6 hectares in this decade.

NAVIGATION
Migrating monarchs in the interior of the continent fly in directions that seem to be geographically appropriate given the need to reach Mexico. How the butterfly determines these directions is the unanswered navigation question. Components of the navigational system that are known involve a time-compensated sun compass linked to the circadian clock, and a protein (Cry1) that is sensitive to blue light and ultraviolet wavelengths.

TAGGING
Tagging by Monarch Watch volunteers has helped define the migration window as well as the timing and pace of the migration. Tagging also shows that the probability of reaching Mexico is related to geographic location, size of the butterfly, and the date (particularly as this relates to the migration window for a given location).

DIMINISHING RESOURCES: THREATS TO THE MONARCH MIGRATION
During the breeding season monarchs require milkweed plants upon which to rear their larvae and nectar sources to sustain the adults during reproduction. Nectar sources are also required by the butterflies to fuel the fall migration to Mexico as well as the spring flights northward. Overwintering monarchs require shelter and water. All of these resources are diminishing. Deforestation at the overwintering sites in Mexico has eliminated a number of former colony sites and others have been badly degraded so as to reduce the shelter and water available to wintering butterflies. In the United States, 6000 acres are converted to development each day, eliminating milkweeds needed by monarch larvae and nectar sources required by adult monarchs. Chemically intensive agriculture and roadside management by excessive mowing and use of herbicides have also eliminated monarchs and their milkweed hosts. Lower numbers of overwintering monarchs in this decade may be related, at least in part, to habitat loss.

CONSERVATION
Sustaining the monarch migration will require the cooperation of all three countries (U.S.A., Canada, Mexico) that are home to monarchs for some portion of the year. Future efforts will be based on the “North American Monarch Conservation Plan” – a program that advocates the implementation of measures to enhance, restore, and protect monarch habitats.

Again, this document and the expanded version are available online at monarchwatch.org/press – additional materials will be added in the future. If you have any questions about any of these facts please feel free to drop us a line anytime!

Saturday, 20 September 2008 7:30-11:30am CDT
Lawrence, KS, USA

Once again, Jayhawk Audubon Society and Monarch Watch are sponsoring Monarch butterfly tagging for the public at the Baker University Wetlands. The wetlands are located along 31st Street between Haskell and Louisiana. The event will be held from 7:30 AM until 11:30 AM on Saturday, 20 September 2008. There is no charge to participants and no experience is necessary – so bring yourself, your kids (all ages), your friends, and your neighbors! If you have a net, bring that too, though JAS and Monarch Watch will provide the tags, nets, and instructions in how to net and tag monarchs. In 2001, 325 participants tagged nearly 3,000 of the estimated 20,000 Monarchs present, and at least 85 of those tagged were recovered at the winter roost sites in Mexico! You can view all of the recoveries tagged at these events by searching for Lawrence-tagged monarchs in our searchable recovery database.

Every year, tens to hundreds of thousands of Monarchs stop on their way south to refuel on the nectar from the ocean of yellow Bidens flowers at the wetlands, a fantastic site in its own right. We will have check-in and information tables just inside the boardwalk entrance to the wetlands so you can arrive and leave whenever you please. The monarchs are usually roosting or clustering (sometimes in spectacular concentrations!) until around 8:30AM. As it warms up, they begin foraging on the Bidens flowers around the boardwalk.

Complete details are available online at 2008 Monarch Watch Tagging Event – there we plan to feature a live audio/video broadcast and post photos during the event so that everyone that can’t make it can at least see (and hear!) what’s going on. You will also be able to participate in a live chat session with fellow Monarch Watchers.

Many of you ordered early and have already received your tagging kits – if you haven’t ordered yet there is still time, but the 2008 Monarch Watch Tagging Kits are going fast. If you would like to participate in the 2008 season tagging this fall, please place your order for tags as soon as possible so that you don’t miss out.

Monarch Tagging Kits are only shipped to areas east of the Rocky Mountains.

As usual, each tagging kit includes a set of specially manufactured monarch butterfly tags (you specify quantity), a datasheet, tagging instructions, and additional monarch/migration information. Standard Tagging Kits for the 2008 season start at only $15 and include your choice of 25, 50, 100, 200, 300, or 500 tags. Sets of 20 Mini Tagging Kits (5 tags each) are available for $40 – for Nature Center programs, etc. that would like to distribute a small number of tags to participants.

Tagging Kits and other materials (don’t forget to pick up a butterfly net!) are available via the Monarch Watch Shop online at Shop.MonarchWatch.org

HAPPY TAGGING!

2007 Season Recoveries List

The records are ordered by tag code so that you can easily look for tags you have used. We are in the process of adding them to our Tag Recovery Database and hope to have the complete records online soon.

For further discussion of the recoveries this year, see our “2007 Season Tag Recoveries” posting made earlier this month.

If you have any questions please feel free to drop us a line at monarch@ku.edu

Why were there so many tags this year? Two factors were involved: increased mortality at Cerro Pelon and encounters with residents with many tags collected during previous seasons. The colony in the El Capulin edijo formed in a degraded forest and moved into an area with an open canopy later in the winter. This combination led to the death of millions of monarchs due to exposure and consequently the recovery of over 90 tags at Pelon – more than four times the normal rate of recovery for this location. Because we are only able to visit each of the monarch sites once each winter, we don’t meet with everyone who has tags. This year we encountered many residents who had older tags along with some from the 2007 tagging season:

Series	Quantity	Year Issued
J	329	2007
H	139	2006
G	75	2005
E	13	2004
C	19	2003
B	8	2002
A	22	2001
multiple	25	pre-2001

Most of you have sent us your datasheets and these have been sorted into eleven large binders. If you haven’t sent in your data, please do so. If we buy tags for which there is no data (and this happens about 20% of the time) it is money wasted – please send in your data!

We are beginning to process the recovered tags and will be reporting on these recoveries in the coming months.

We have big plans for this season and we need your help on several projects:

1. MONARCH WAYSTATIONS

We need to increase the number of registered Monarch Waystations by at least 1,000. There are now 1,871 registered habitats in the Monarch Waystation Registry and this number needs to grow given that we are losing 2.2 million acres of habitat per year due to development. As we’ve said before, we need you to help us market this program. Please show your Monarch Waystations to others and direct people to our web site. Your efforts will help educate the public of the need to protect habitats for monarchs and other wildlife.

2. HABITAT OBSERVATIONS

We need your to help us track the phenology (seasonal progression) of milkweeds and nectar plants. We will have a series of announcements describing how you can participate in this program in the coming weeks.

3. MONARCH OBSERVATIONS

Please report the first monarch you see this spring. We need a larger number of observations of first monarchs to determine how well the spring migration is synchronized with the growth phases of the milkweeds.

4. DEGREE DAY LOGGING

In future articles we will demonstrate how to record growing degree days for both milkweeds and monarchs in our Monarch Waystation. We hope that these demonstrations will encourage more of you to use these simple devices to learn more about the relationships between temperature and growth and development.

5. MONARCH TAGGING

Another tagging season will be here soon but it is not too soon to urge you to order your tags now. Again, we will limit the number of tags to 200,000 and once these are gone, they’re gone. So, do order early to avoid being disappointed.

Tagging Kits and other materials are available via the Monarch Watch Shop online at Shop.MonarchWatch.org

Monarch Tagging Kits are only shipped to areas east of the Rocky Mountains.

As usual, each tagging kit includes a set of specially manufactured monarch butterfly tags (you specify quantity), a datasheet, tagging instructions, and additional monarch/migration information. Standard Tagging Kits for the 2008 season start at only $15 and include your choice of 25, 50, 100, 200, 300, or 500 tags. Sets of 20 Mini Tagging Kits (5 tags each) are available for $40 – for Nature Center programs, etc. that would like to distribute a small number of tags to participants.

Tagging Kits and other materials are available via the Monarch Watch Shop online at Shop.MonarchWatch.org

Please keep in mind that our monarch tags are designed to be used only during the season for which they are purchased. We ask that you return any unused tags with your datasheet(s) at the end of the season so that they may be taken out of circulation.

In addition to making things easier for us as far as recordkeeping is concerned, we have been advised by the manufacturer that the adhesive has a shelf life of approximately one year (once it is bonded to the polypropylene tag). Therefore, if old tags are used the chance that they will fail at some point during the monarch’s long journey to Mexico is greatly increased – resulting in lost data. For an account (including a photo) that illustrates this, please see our 2004 “Off to Mexico” Blog, specifically the March 6th entry.

Please don’t wait until the last minute to order your tags – wasn’t “I will not procrastinate” one of your New Year’s resolutions? :D