Butterflies beginning journey to Mexico
BUCYRUS - More than a dozen schoolchildren tagged Monarch butterflies Monday evening at Unger Park in Bucyrus as the insects took a rest during their annual migration to Mexico.
It was an act that could help save the Monarch population from extinction. There are only about 13 percent the number of Monarch butterflies alive today as there were just a few years ago, according to Josh Dyer, a naturalist with the Crawford Park District.
"It's unreal what's happened to our Monarch population," Dyer said. "They're actually up for nomination to be added to the national endangered species list."
Dyer told the children that the Monarchs spend their summers in Canada, then begin an annual migration every autumn that takes them across the Great Lakes, through the Midwest and into the mountains of Mexico.
"They travel farther than your grandparents drive every year to Florida," Dyer said. "They fly 2,000 miles."
Throughout the summer and during their autumn migration, the Monarch stops to lay the eggs that will ensure their species lives on.
"Monarchs are pretty special in the butterfly world," Dyer said. "Most butterflies can lay their eggs just about anywhere, but not Monarchs."
He taught the children that a Monarch's eggs will only survive when laid upon one of eight different species of Milkweed plants, all of which grow in North Central Ohio.
"That milky, white substance in a Milkweed — does anybody know what that is?" Dyer asked the students.
"Milk!" a little boy shouted.
"No, not milk," Dyer said with a chuckle. "It's actually latex. So when a Monarch eats it, it makes their bodies poisonous."
Because they are poisonous to most predators, there are very few animals that eat Monarchs. Dyer told the students that the Viceroy butterfly grows similar color patterns to the Monarch, allowing it to fool predators into thinking that it, too, is harmful to eat.
"Does anybody know how to tell the difference in a boy and a girl Monarch?" Dyer asked.
He taught the children that the male butterflies have a large, black dot on each of their two rear wings. Those dots release the pheromones that attract the dot-less, female Monarchs when it's time to breed.
Dyer then showed the children how to attach a tiny sticker to the bottom of a Monarch's wing that will be used later to identify that butterfly once it completes its voyage to Mexico.
"When you hold the butterfly, make sure you hold it along the leading edge of its wings with the wings closed," Dyer said.
Scientists across the world can use the identification number on the tag to gather information about the path the butterfly takes from Ohio to Mexico. Along the way, those who capture the Monarch input information online, such as the date and location.
"We've had three of our Monarchs found in Mexico," Dyer told them.
Anyone who would like to learn more about tagging Monarchs can visit the projects' website at www.monarchwatch.org.
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