Monarch Butterflies east of the Rocky Mountains are known to migrate up 3,000 miles down to Michoacán, Mexico in the fall. This was discovered by the invaluable efforts of citizen scientists – people seeing and raising monarch butterflies in their gardens and tagging them over 50 years. More and more is being learned about monarch butterflies including a microscopic parasite, O.e. that accumulates on milkweed, especially on tropical milkweed, by citizen scientists testing newborn monarchs and sending these tests to researchers at Monarch Health, University of Georgia.. Observations about when and where monarchs are cited and where native habitats are being restored are all ways that citizen scientists aid researchers in understanding the complexities of monarch butterfly life cycle. And, sadly, monarchs have been in severe decline over the last 10 years. So much so that more citizen scientist help is needed.
Interested in learning what YOU can do in YOUR garden? Happy to share with you.
Susie Vanderlip is a Monarch Butterfly Citizen Scientist and a Monarch Conservation Specialist for Monarch Watch.
www.MonarchButterflySpeaker.com
Susie’s blog www.tinyurl.com/AllAboutMonarchs
Facebook Page: @monarchbutterflyspeaker
