Tiny Trackers Fitted Onto Monarch Butterflies Could Help Save Them

Modern tech has allowed us to track humans like never before. 

Now, a research team is using that tech to follow the migration of monarch butterflies. The team has fitted the flying insects with solar-powered transmitters to follow their migration from their summer homes to their winter spots.  

For more than 20 years, monarch numbers have decreased sharply. This is due to a range of factors. They include loss of habitat, extreme temps, and the loss of milkweed they need for food. Knowing where monarchs travel could help experts better protect them. It could allow them to target some of those factors.       

North America is home to two main populations of monarchs. Eastern monarchs are the larger of the two. They spend winter in Mexico. The western monarchs spend winter along the California coast. 

Experts have long tried to track insects. But the battery packs needed for the devices were too heavy for the bugs to carry. The new tiny trackers use solar power. That makes them lighter. Now they can be attached to the monarchs, NPR reported.      

The research team has found a few surprises. One tagged western monarch flew eastward and was last tracked in Bend, Oregon. It was headed toward the Rocky Mountains. 

“They may actually be joining the eastern population,” David James told Jefferson Public Radio at Southern Oregon University. He's an entomologist at Washington State University. 

Reflect: Which animal’s journey would you most like to follow, and what would you want to find out along the way?