Monarch Tagging at Arivaca Cienega

Tagore wrote, "the butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough." As a society, we tend to think of butterflies as fragile and ephemeral creatures, but this past Sunday, October 4th, CNUW students learned that Monarch Butterflies (Danaeus plexippus) are a lot tougher than we'd imagined. We joined Gail Morris and friends from Southwest Monarch Study at Arivaca Cienega to tag these beautiful insects as they began their migration.

CNUW and Southwest Monarch Study head out into the field in search of Monarch Butterflies. Photo by E.N. Olsen/CNUW.

We met at the trail head at 9:00 AM, where Gail gave us an introduction to Monarchs and Monarch tagging. She pointed out important Monarch plants like milkweed and sunflower, taught us how to tell a male Monarch from a female, and gave us a few pointers on butterfly catching technique.

Gail walks us through Butterfly Catching 101. Photo by E.N. Olsen/CNUW.

Once we were turned loose in the field, catching butterflies proved a more formidable task than we'd imagined. Monarchs are surprisingly fast and elusive. The terrain, though beautiful, was very swampy and hard to move through, further assisting the butterflies. CNUW students are tough, though, and our hard work paid off. Our group netted and tagged thirteen Monarch Butterflies.

Gail helps student Mark Johnson remove a Monarch from his net. Photo by E.N. Olsen/CNUW.

Kellie Elliott shows off her freshly-tagged Monarch just before releasing it. Photo by E.N. Olsen/CNUW.

Southwest Monarch Study's work is critical right now, for Monarch Butterflies are rapidly losing thier habitat. By tagging individual butterflies, we can track Monarch movements and better identify important habitats and locations.

Lori Sharpy hosts a Monarch on her arm. Photo by E.N. Olsen/CNUW.

We also recovered a Monarch that had been tagged at an earlier date, and its recapture will help us better understand Monarch migration. Hopefully, some or all of the thirteen individuals we tagged will be recovered.

Kellie (right) and John Yu release another tagged Monarch. Photo by E.N. Olsen/CNUW.

It was hard work and we got muddy, but our efforts are directly helping the Monarch Butterflies, and that's something to be cheerful about.

From right to left, taggers John, Danielle Moore, and Terri Belisle brandish their nets. Photo by E.N. Olsen/CNUW.

Emma