Capturing a Monarch
When in flight, Monarchs are very wary, elusive and difficult to catch. To maximize the number of Monarchs collected for tagging, it's best to locate Monarchs feeding on flowers or while they are on the roosts late in the day or early in the morning. Approach each butterfly slowly (from behind if possible) as sudden movement will startle it into flight. Sweep the net forward quickly and flip the end of the net bag over the net handle. You want the butterfly in the deep end of the net. With one hand holding the handle, use the other hand to collapse the end of the net. There should be enough space at the deep end to prevent damaging the butterfly. Flatten the net bag so the wings of the butterfly are closed over its back (thorax) and place thumb and forefinger over the leading edge of the wings (from outside of the net). Next, with the thumb and forefinger of your other hand, reach into the net and firmly grasp the thorax. Remove the butterfly for tagging.

Butterfly Nets
You can purchase a good butterfly net or make one. The mouth or opening of the net should be 12 inches or more in diameter and the net bag should be at least 24 inches deep, allowing you to trap the butterflies in the end of the net without harming them. Net bags can be made from a variety of materials but it is advisable to choose see-through materials that won't rip easily as the net is swept over vegetation. Landing nets used by fisherman (available at most discount stores) can usually be converted to butterfly nets.

BioQuip offers insect nets in several styles; prices start at $10. You can contact them directly for more information at:

BioQuip Products, Inc.
(310) 324-0620
BioQuip

Storing Live Monarchs
If you collect more Monarchs than you can tag immediately, you can store them in a paper triangle or glassine (#3 stamp) envelope. To store the butterflies overnight or for several days (no more than 3), place the envelopes in a plastic box or zip-lock bag in a refrigerator. The box or bag should contain a moist paper towel to keep the butterflies from becoming dehydrated.

Sexing Monarchs
Once you become familiar with Monarch adults, sexing is relatively easy. Males have an enlarged pouch midway along a vein that is directly below the discal cell on the hindwing (see below). In species closely related to the Monarch, this pouch is a source of pheromones that are used in courtship. The pouches do not appear to be functional in the Monarch. Females lack these pouches and appear to have thicker veins than males - this is actually only a difference in pigmentation. Upon close examination, you will also notice that males and females also differ significantly in the anatomy at the tip of their abdomen.

Female Monarch: Notice the thick vein pigmentation and no hindwing pouches.	Male Monarch: Notice the thin vein pigmentation and swollen pouches on the hindwings.

Tagging Instructions for the Digital Monarch

Tag Number & Date
Some tags may be lost or made unusable while you are attempting to apply them. Do not record or submit such tag numbers. Only record the tag numbers that have been successfully applied and include the date the Monarchs were released.

Sex of Monarch
Determine the sex of the tagged butterflies. This is valuable information because there may be behavioral differences between males and females during the migration. See "Sexing Monarchs" in the background information for additional information.

Tagging Location When you registered for this project the Latitude and Longitude of the address you gave was entered into the database. If you are working somewhere other then your registration address determine the Latitude and Longitude of your field site. Give the nearest town or city, county, state (province) and zip (postal code) - e.g., Lawrence, Douglas Co, KS, 66045

Record wind speed, wind direction, air temperature, and estimate the percent cloud cover.Weather data for the day should be recorded for the time of capture. If you do not have a weather station at school or locally, try an area weather network. Around the United States, and the World for that matter, weather data can be obtained from NOAA Weather sites, usually airports at National Weather conditions. Another useful site for weaterh and a weather archive is at the University of Michigan Archived Weather Data for past data at your site.

Miscellaneous Observations
It might be useful to make additional notations such as whether the butterflies were caught on flowers or roosts. Generally the sex ratio favors males on flowers and females in roosts - why this is so is not clear. Roosts are usually on the leeward side (the north) of hedge rows in the Midwest and it is often possible to collect and tag much larger numbers of Monarchs on roosts than to locate them while they are nectaring at flowers. The wing condition of each individual could also be recorded on a 1-4 scale, with 1 being immaculate and 4 extremely worn. Recording the weather conditions is also an optional activity, but much can be learned about the biology of Monarchs and their migratory behavior by making these observations over a series of days. In particular, it might be useful to record the compass direction of migratory flight relative to wind direction.

Tagging Protocol

1. Hold a Monarch between your index finger and thumb along the leading edge of the forewings.

2. Remove a tag by its edge from the backing on the sheet of tags (a toothpick might be helpful), place it over the discal cell and position the balls of your thumb and index finger over the discal cells on both sides of the butterfly, press firmly for several seconds and release the butterfly after recording the number from the tag on the data sheet. Caution: Do not allow the tag to stick to any other surface, such as your finger, before applying it to the butterfly. To be most effective, the adhesive surface of the tag must be clean when it is applied to the wing.

3. In addition to the tag number, please record your name and address, as well as the tagging location and sex of each tagged Monarch. Additional information may be added in the "observations" column.