More on butterfly tagging program

Here is some more (lots more) information about the butterfly tagging program from Monarch Watch. I sent in a photo of a monarch I saw at Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven, Conn., and received this as a response from the folks at Monarch Watch. Fascinating stuff:

What’s involved in the tagging program?

Tag selection – The purpose of the tagging is to associate the location of capture with the point of recovery for each butterfly. The data from these recaptures are used to determine the pathways taken by migrating monarchs, the influence of weather on the migration, the survival rate of the monarchs, etc. Each tagged butterfly must have a tag code (three letters and three numbers) for this system to work. To insure that they do, we create a series of tag numbers using numbers and

the alphabet.

Each year receives its own unique series. After we decide on a series of tag numbers, we send them to to be printed with waterproof ink on polypropylene sheets that have special 3M ® adhesive on the back. The printed tags are placed on a backing from which they can be easily removed. They are organized in groups of 25 consecutive numbers. The tags arrive at Monarch Watch on sheets of 25 tags per sheet.

Tag distribution – Tag and purchased in kits. Each kit contains a premigration newsletter,
datasheet, instructions and a multiple of 25 tags, depending on how many are ordered in that kit. You have the option of ordering kits with just 25 tags up to kits with 500 tags. If you need more than 500 tags, you will need to order multiple kits. We begin distributing the tags in August. Northern states and Canada receive their tags first so that they will not miss any migrating Monarchs. As we distribute the tags, we record the tag numbers issued to each tagger; the tag numbers issued to each participant are entered into a database on a computer.

Recording tagging data – With tags and datasheets in hand, participants tag as many monarchs as they are able and record the date, location and other information onto their datasheets. It is very important that participants record their name and address on each and every sheet. If you anticipate tagging more than 25 monarchs, we recommend filling in your name and address on the datasheets first and then making copies. When data is recorded, the complete tag number should be used. Without the letter code, tracking is usually impossible. For example, last year we sent out more than 200 tags with the number

Series 311 but only one of these was MAA 311. The datasheets included in the kits have directions and data examples. If a tag is recovered while tagging, it is important that the information for that tag is sent in separately. We receive thousands of datasheets each year but just one hundred or so domestic (U.S. and Canada) recoveries. To find out when the peak of the migration is in your area, please visit this link: http://www.monarchwatch.org/tagmig/peak.html

Returning the datasheets – Believe it or not, many people receive tags, tag monarchs, and record data but never return their datasheets. Every spring the Monarch Watch staff spends countless hours contacting people who have had recoveries but did not return their datasheets. The data for a recovery is lost unless we are able to verify when, where and by whom the butterfly was tagged.

As the datasheets are returned, we go through each tagging sheet and verify who received those tag numbers. If the tag numbers are incomplete, or if there is no name on the datasheet, we have to track the tags back to who received them and contact them in order to fill in this missing information (if it is even still available.) The sheets are filed in notebooks in alpha-numerical order and the information is entered into our tag database. This makes it easier to search for the tag records for recovered tags.

Recoveries!!! – Most of the recovered tagged Monarchs within the United States and Canada are found dead by people who know nothing about monarchs or Monarch Watch. In 2004, we changed the contact information on the tags to a phone number and email address to make it easier to report recovered tags. Old tags, which should not be used, contain an address. Most of the recoveries are reported with information on the location, date and circumstance of the recovery. If this information is not included, we must contact the person who found the tag. Once we have the tag number for a recovery, we enter the tag and the recovery information into a recovery database. Then, we use the tag record database to search for the tagging data and enter that information into the recovery database, too. We then calculate the distance travelled by that particular monarch. If the tagger has not returned their datasheets, they are contacted and asked for that information. Once the data is complete, it is can be viewed online through our
web site, http://www.monarchwatch.org.

What do we do with the data? All of the recoveries are viewable online. We also analyze
the recovery data to test hypotheses concerning Monarch orientation and navigation. These analyses will be summarized on the web site subsequent to the publication of the articles inscientific journals.

If you are interested in tagging monarchs or arecurious about our other products, please visit this link: http://shop.monarchwatch.org for information.

To learn more about our new Monarch Waystation program, designed to encourage people to create, conserve and protect milkweed habitat, visit http://www.monarchwatch.org/ws

Thank you for your interest in our program!