SUNDAY
Stephenville Empire-Tribune
Page C1
October 2, 2011
Monarch migration offers hands-on learning By AMANDA KIMBLE Staff Writer
amanda.kimble@empiretribune.com
Science is in full flight at Stephenville Club Lake. An annual project at the facility, located about six miles north of Stephenville on US Highway 281, helps track the annual migration of monarch butterflies headed south for the winter. Pam Carter, lake caretaker, said the butterflies first flew into the local monarch waystation on Labor Day. While their arrival is an annual event that assists a Kansas-based research project, Carter said the butterflies’ stop in Erath County allows residents to take a hands-on approach to environmental awareness and scientific study. “Although we garden to attract all varieties of butterflies, we participate annually in the tagging of monarchs to support ongoing research efforts being conducted by the University of Kansas,” Carter said. “Student scientists from our local area participate in the tagging.” Carter said the
tags are about the size of a standard hole punch and are placed on the “mittenlike” spot on the monarchs’ wings. Data, including the butterflies’ sex, tagging date and location is recorded. “The data helps scientists study the habits of the monarchs,” she said. In addition to
tagging butterflies for scientific study, waystations provide a safe haven and food source. “We make sure there are plenty of nectar plants to provide fuel for the
monarch’s journey, as well as host flowers, such as milkweed for the eggs and subsequent caterpillars to eat,” Carter said. According to the University of Kansas, milkweeds where monarchs typically lay their eggs - and nectar sources are declining due to development and widespread use of herbicides. Ninety percent of all natural monarch habitats occur within agricultural landscape, the project web site, monarchwatch.org, explains. Recently, Mallory and Mackenzie, third and fourth grade home school students and fifth grader, Marjorie, who has participated in tagging for three years, assisted in the tagging process. “Kids’ fingers are the perfect size for handling the
small tags,” she said. While the students are learning more about monarchs, Carter said the waystation offers a rare learning opportunity. “It is so neat for children who have only seen tagging on television or read the process to be able to
take part in life science lessons,” Carter said. “We love seeing kids outside having fun and learning in our living lab.” The efforts of Club Lake is a yearround affair that includes gardening and sustaining their Erath County haven while offering assistance to other waystations. “We are currently harvesting flower seeds to help others plant them next spring to support the
maintain water and nectar sources to fatten up the monarchs for their journey to Mexico,” Carter said. “The migration of these butterflies can be as far as 3,000 miles and include four generations of butterflies throughout the year. During the fall migration, butterflies can live for about eight months while others may only live two-six weeks. “It takes about a month for the egg of a monarch to reach the adult state, so we stay on the look-out for these next generation monarchs,” she said. “Since cold fronts and high winds often times signal migration, we watch for these signs in anticipation of our fall monarch visitors. We have seen monarchs passing through as late as Halloween. Since they travel about 170 miles per day when migrating, I try to have plenty of food for them while they stop and rest before moving on.” Hundreds of millions of monarch butterflies migrate from the United States and Canada to Mexico and California annually,
according to researchers. Stephenville Club Lake is a 501c(7) nonprofit organization with memberships are available. “Although the lake is very low due to the drought, the gardens are full of butterflies,” Carter said.
Monarch Migration Facts
• Monarch butterflies cannot survive a long cold winter. Instead, they spend the winter in roosting spots. • Monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains travel to small groves of trees along the California coast. Those east of the Rocky Mountains fly farther south to the forests high in the mountains of Mexico. • Monarchs of North America travel much farther than all other tropical butterflies, up to 3,000 miles. They are the only butterflies to make such a long, two-way annual migration • They fly in masses to the same winter roosts, often to the exact same trees. much like the migration of birds or whales. Unlike birds and whales, individual monarchs only make the round-trip once with their children’s grandchildren that return south the following fall. • When the late summer and early fall Monarchs emerge from their pupae, or chrysalides, they are biologically and behaviorally different from those emerging in the summer. The shorter days and cooler air of late summer trigger changes. Those butterflies look like summer adults, but won’t mate or lay eggs until the following spring. • Otherwise solitary, monarchs often cluster at night while moving southward. If they linger too long, they won’t be able to make the journey; because they are cold-blooded and unable to fly in cold weather. • Fat, stored in the abdomen, is a critical element of survival for the winter fueling their 1,000-3,000 mile flight. It must last until the next spring when they begin the flight back north. • As they migrate southwards, Monarchs stop to nectar and gain weight during the trip. Some researchers think Monarchs conserve their “fuel” by gliding on air currents as they travel south.
monarchs,” Carter said. In the ongoing drought, the importance of the project has been magnified, she added. “With the severe drought covering Texas, it has been more important than ever to
“The fall is a beautiful time to be outside and the lake offers a place to enjoy nature and the beauty of the outdoors.” For more information, email Carter at drc1948@ aol.com.
• Another unsolved mystery is how Monarchs find the overwintering sites. They know their way, even though the butterflies returning to Mexico or California each fall are the greatgreat-grandchildren of the butterflies that left the previous spring. No one knows exactly how their homing system works. For more information, visit monarchwatch.org
Pictured, bottom left to center Tiny tags are placed on the wings of monarchs at a local weigh station. The tags contain data that is recorded by University of Kansas researchers in an effort to track the life and migration of the butterflies. Local students Mackenzie, Marjorie and Mallory descended on Stephenville Club Lakein mid-September for hands-on learning. The girls used butterfly nets to catch monarchs they tagged with data that will be collected and recorded at other locations and delivered to researchers at the University of Kansas. Mallory, 8, uses her tiny finger and delicate touch to capture a monarch butterfly for tagging at Stephenville Club Lake’s monarch waystation. Photos contributed