b-fly releases at events

[Paul Cherubini]

Mark Berman wrote:

> it doesn't seem as if these data support
> your statement that "genetic programming" was unaffected by the displaced
> releases presented below (**note comments below). 

The displaced releases demonstrated that eastern monarchs released in the western USA and 
western Canada were able to orient toward and find the California overwintering sites and 
that California monarchs released in North Dakota headed for the Mexican overwintering 
sites along the same general path taken by monarchs "indigenous" to North Dakota. 

In short, the displaced monarchs, shipped across the Rockies, were not "mixed up" and 
"unable to oreint propertly" as Glassberg,Pyle,Opler and Tuttle speculated with an alarmist 
intonation - below is what they wrote:

"Now imagine tens of thousands of mixed-up Monarchs unable to find the way to their 
overwintering grounds. This depressing image may become a reality if the rapidly-growing 
fad of releasing butterflies, including Monarch butterflies, at weddings, state fairs, and other 
public events continues to spread. Because the released Monarchs may have come from 
California, for instance, where they do not migrate to Mexico, their offspring may not  be 
able to orient properly"

Paul Cherubini, Placerville, California