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Scientists tag nearly 1,750 monarchs with solar radio trackers, AP says
The Associated Press reported researchers attached tiny solar-powered radio tags to nearly 1,750 monarch butterflies this year to map stopovers on the Mexico migration.
- AP is now reporting this
Based on reporting by Local 10
Wire reporting: (AP, via Local 10)
The Associated Press reported that scientists this year attached solar-powered radio tags to nearly 1,750 monarch butterflies to map overnight stopovers and daily flight distances on the fall migration to central Mexico1.
AP said National Wildlife Federation senior scientist Rebeca Quinonez-Pinon is leading a Texas study with community scientists, and that the public can follow tagged insects on a free app called Project Monarch Science1.
According to AP, the tags from Cellular Tracking Technologies cost about $200 and weigh about as much as a drop of water; most tagged monarchs weigh more than 400 milligrams, and about 175 tagged butterflies have been detected in Mexico since this year's migration began1.
AP cited Emma Pelton of the Xerces Society saying tracking has shown a Utah monarch joining eastern migrants in Mexico and Eastern Seaboard insects crossing the Gulf, paths that had been hypothesized but not shown in such numbers1.
University of California, Davis insect ecologist Louie Yang told AP the tags do not give an exact location, only where a receiver detected the insect, and that detection does not prove the butterfly is still alive; he said more work is needed on whether tags change behavior1.
AP reported eastern monarchs have fallen more than 80 percent since the mid-1990s and western monarchs about 95 percent, citing pesticides, habitat loss and climate effects, and said a court ordered a U.S. listing decision by 2030 after the Trump administration delayed federal protections last year1.
