GreenUp hosts Monarch butterfly tagging event

Blog and and photographs by GreenUP volunteer, Samantha Stephens

Fiery leaves falling through the autumn air are a familiar September sight in Ontario. But if you’re watching closely, you’ll notice another, more directed orange fluttering- these are the monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus). They are embarking on a 3 000 mile migration. Signalled by the cooling temperatures and shorter days, they are taking off towards the Transvolcanic Mountains of Mexico. How do they get there and what do they face along the way? That’s what the scientists behind Monarch Watch would like to know.

Monarch Watch is a non-profit program based out of the University of Kansas. They maintain a database of information collected through the tagging of butterflies by volunteers. The tags are small, adhesive stickers placed on the wing that contain an ID number and contact information. When a tagged butterfly is found, the retriever can contact Monarch Watch and provide its location. This data can then be used to understand migration routes, survival rates, and to help determine if these two things are affected by weather.

Earlier this summer, in partnership with Kawartha Land Trust, GreenUP held a monarch workshop. Participants collected monarch larvae – but not too early! The monarchs returning to Ontario in the spring have one job: to reproduce. These individuals survive for only 2-5 weeks, leaving the responsibility of fall migration to their grandchildren that emerge in early fall. It is this single generation that must successfully migrate in order to ensure the species’ survival. They enjoy the warm Mexican temperatures for 9 months and then turn-around and make the long journey back.

 

The collected larvae were housed in the GreenUP store, where staff fed them a sugar solution daily. On September 19^th the butterflies were brought to Ecology Park where GreenUP’s Marcy Adzich led a workshop inviting the community to participate in the Monarch Watch program. Children and adults of all ages came out to learn about the biology of the monarch butterfly and lend a hand in tagging, as well as parasite testing. Parasite (Ophryocystis elektroscirrha) infection weakens a butterfly. To help understand more about this parasite-host interaction, scale samples collected from tagged butterflies are sent to the University of Georgia for further study.

 

In addition to parasite infection monarchs face some other hazards. Marcy explains that here in Ontario dog-strangling vine (Vincetoxicum rossicum) is invading. This is a problem for monarchs because the leaf of the dog-strangling vine is similar to that of the milkweed (Asclepias spp.) which adults lay their eggs on. Because of this, adults may mistakenly lay their eggs on a dog-strangling vine rather than a milkweed. Dog-strangling vine is toxic to the emerging larvae and they die after consuming the leaf. In Mexico, butterfly habitat is becoming scarce as humans encroach upon these areas used by overwintering monarchs. Currently, there are 11-14 sites that host millions of monarchs. Ensuring that monarchs have a healthy habitat here in Canada where they spend the summer, along their journey and in their overwintering grounds in Mexico, is the best way to ensure that these majestic insects continue to thrive.

 

As the Monarch Watch’s vision statement says, it is the people of the United States, Canada, and Mexico that must work together to create, conserve and protect monarch habitats. GreenUP is encouraging monarch stewards and helping to make our Peterborough community a healthy habitat for these butterflies. You can find out more about how you can help at monarchwatch.org.

 

 

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Special thank you to Samantha Stephens for writing this blog post and for capturing these wonderful moments. Samantha is a GreenUp Volunteer and is completing her Masters of Science in Environmental and Life Sciences at Trent University. Thank you, Sam for your vision and for sharing your gift of storytelling with us!