Tagging along with monarch butterflies

Community science has been telling monarchs’ story for 50 years

By Will Parson |
A group of volunteers look up toward a monarch butterfly just out of reach
Volunteers narrowly miss a monarch butterfly flying overhead while attempting to capture individuals to tag and release at Pickering Creek Audubon Center in Talbot County, Md., in September. The center holds similar events every fall.
Two monarch butterflies land on yellow flowers of groundsel overlooking a salt marsh wetland
Monarch butterflies tend to pass through the Chesapeake Bay region around the end of September, making it a great time to participate in the community science tagging effort. Above, Poplar Island in Talbot County provides prime habitat for the migrating insect. ((Photos by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program))
A child holds his arm out while an educator delicately places a butterfly on his hand
Pickering’s director of education Mary Helen Gillen holds a viceroy butterfly so that Marcus Miller, 10, can feel its scratchy foot pads.
A small green chrysalis hangs from native plants in a meadow.
A monarch chrysalis hangs near the yellow blooms of goldenrod at Pickering Creek Audubon Center. Late-blooming wildflowers like goldenrod ensure that monarch butterflies have a nectar-laden food source through all the months and regions in which they are active.

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