Monarch Watch Announces 6th season

[Chip Taylor]

Monarch Watch Announces 6th season

New for 97: Press-on tags which require no additional adhesive!!! The new
tags  are made from a polypropylene all weather stock. The tags are
circular (.89cm),light weight (<.01g) with permanent ink. These new tags
have been produced in response to comments and suggestions but MW
participants.

Captured butterflies are easily tagged by simply pealing a tag from the
backing and pressing it over a discal cell on the ventral side of a
hindwing.

The Monarch migration will begin in Canada and the northern states in the
last few days of August. At this writing (20 July) monarch numbers appear
to be normal to above normal in all parts of the breeding range and, unless
there are extreme high temperatures or droughts in August, we anticipate an
excellent migration of at least 150 million monarchs this fall. Members of
MW will recieve tags in August in time for the migration. Tagging
instructions and data sheets are provided.

In addition to tagging, MW invites your participation in several other
student(citizen)/scientist projects to further our knowledge of Monarch
biolgy.

If you would like more information about how to participate in this
program, please email us or use one of the channels of communication
indicated below.

A brief description of Monarch Watch Follows:

Monarch Watch: Directed by Dr. Orley R. (Chip) Taylor, Department
of Entomology, University of Kansas is a collaborative network of students,
teachers, volunteers and researchers dedicated to the study of Monarch
butterflies. Areas of emphasis include science education, research and
conservation. The educational program consists of student/scientist
collaborative projects,  K-12 curricular materials (in collaboration with
Dr. Karen Oberhauser, University of Minnesota) and new information about
Monarchs. These materials are accessible through the MW web site
http://www.keil.ukans.edu/~monarch/. Hard copy of the curricular materials
is available from Karen Oberhauser (oberh001 at tc.umn.edu) and a 36 page
yearly report is provided each May to MW members. MW also maintains a list
serve (dplex-l) for those wishing to report on the migration and discuss
Monarch biology. MW members come from 43 states and provinces. Last fall
('96) at least 49,000 Monarchs were tagged by MW participants. Recovered
tags are reported to the tagger and recorded in the Season Summary and on
the web site. Analysis of 40 years of tagging data is in progress. These
data are providing new insights on how monarchs reach their overwintering
roost areas in Mexico.




Monarch Watch
Email:  monarch at ukans.edu
WWW:  http://www.keil.ukans.edu/~monarch/
Dplex-L:  send message "info Dplex-L" to Listproc at listproc.cc.ukans.edu
Phone:  1 (888) TAGGING (toll-free!) -or- 1 (913) 864 4441
Fax:  1 (913) 864 5321
Snail:  c/o O.R. Taylor, Dept. of Entomology, Univ. of KS, Lawrence KS 66045