When to tag...

[ButterflyLdy]

I live in Baltimore Maryland - and I have a bunch of chrysalids about to hatch - are these the monarchs I need to tag? It seems a bit early - will there be another batch of eggs on my milkweed - or are these the migrators?
butterflyldy

[Mona Miller]

http://www.monarchwatch.org/tagmig/tag.htm
Tagging

http://www.monarchwatch.org/tagmig/peak.html
Peak Migration Dates
There is a chart with latitudes on this page.
For Maryland:
Latitude; Midpoint; Peak in monarch abundance
39; 22 September; 14-26 September

There will be another group of butterflies that need tagging. I'd hold off, most butterflies found in Mexico are tagged in September or even October.

[Paul Cherubini]

When to tag depends on your objectives. There has been a long standing debate as to whether or not there is a "pre-migration, migration" in late July and early August of reproductive monarchs. The reason the debate lingers on is because no one has tagged many monarchs during this period, hence few tag recoveries so far. So if you want to attempt to address that issue, then yes you should tag your soon to be emerging chrysalids. The chances of a tag recovery are rather remote, however, because the Monarch Watch tags are not very conspicuous as compared to the Urquhart tags that were used in the 50's - early 90's, so the public is less likely to notice a tagged monarch with a Monarch Watch tag; e.g. like when a kitty brings a dead monarch into the house of its owner.

If your objective is to obtain a tag recovery from a migrant that will be headed toward Florida or the overwintering sites in Mexico, then you should wait until the end of August or later. The onset of reproductive diapause and southward migratory behavior usually begins around Aug. 25 at 39 degrees N.

[Mona Miller]

The chances of a tag recovery are rather remote, however, because the Monarch Watch tags are not very conspicuous as compared to the Urquhart tags that were used in the 50's - early 90's, so the public is less likely to notice a tagged monarch with a Monarch Watch tag; e.g. like when a kitty brings a dead monarch into the house of its owner.

A few years ago, a mother and her kids ventured up the hill from the playground at school to see the butterfly garden. The sun bounced off something and almost blinded the mother. She looked down and found a dead Monarch with a tag attached. If it is so unconspicuous, then how in the world did this happen?

The school received a report from Monarch Watch that their Monarch had traveled 0 miles. What will happen when released, if there are good nectar sources the Monarchs may stay in an area up to a week tanking up before they start traveling south. We had had a very early frost and the Monarch did not make it through the frost.

Urquhart type tags are used to tag at Cape May, NJ:
http://www.rkwalton.com/mmp02.html

[applestar]

We're going to tag all the butterflies we release since ours is a pretty small-scale hobby. This is our first year tagging, and the kids and I are thrilled that we might discover where our butterflies go after they leave us.

One thing I'm puzzled about -- first year we released about 7, 2nd year about 16, last year, about 27. This year, we have 20 potentials already(our first 5 chrysalids ready to eclose in a couple of days -- lost 7 to tachinid and one to the mysterious stuck 1/2 way to chrysalis disease or we'd already have tagged and released some). Why do the numbers keep doubling? Is it that our milkweeds patch is getting bigger attracting more butterflies, we're collecting more as we gain confidence, or do the butterflies gossip about popular hangouts?

[Mona Miller]

I do think that butterflies pattern where they were raised/released. I'm glad you are having a good year, some places are not.

I am hearing reports of areas all over the USA and Canada that are not seeing many Monarchs.

[ButterflyLdy]

We've had a real abundant year in our yard for Monarchs here in Westminster, Maryland. I have four sizeable milkweed patches that I started about two years ago. Our first batch of eggs were gathered in early July. We (my grandsons and me) gathered around 45 eggs and released a total of 36 Monarchs - untagged. Last week I collected another batch of eggs - around 30 - and today I found 13 more eggs and 10 small caterpillars. I noticed evidence of more, but I'm sure they were eaten by other bugs.

Anyway, we now have about another 45 - 50 cats and eggs that we will tag and release - these will be migrators for sure!

[Mona Miller]

Denise Gibbs will be doing her Monarch Fiesta again this year. It is on Saturday, Sept. 27 from 9:30 to 3 at Black Hill Regional Park. Loads of people attend this event. I will be there helping with tagging. Right now, I hope that I will be able to raise some butterflies for this event.
http://www.mcparkandplanning.org/parks/ ... index.shtm