Banded Monarch found in Mexico

Monarchs do indeed travel from Vermont to Mexico, more specifically from Plainfield and the new VINS nature center in Quechee to the wintering preserve at El Rosario, Mexico.

I'm pleased to report that among the 2700 or so tagged Monarchs recovered last winter in Mexico were the following, each with my pea-sized tag (with a unique serial number) stuck to the underside of its right hind wing:

Tag CAL190: Tagged at my home in Plainfield on 29 Aug 2003 Tag CAL229: Tagged at the VINS preserve in Quechee on 6 Sep 2003 Tag CAL235: Tagged at the VINS preserve in Quechee on 6 Sep 2003

It's about 2400 miles from Plainfield to El Rosario (probably more as the Monarch flies).

It's quite likely that my VBS colleague, Kent McFarland, tagged one or both of those at VINS last September. We were both tagging Monarchs for the VINS annual meeting that day. Alas, my raw data sheets don't say who tagged which Monarch (it was a busy day).

I believe only one other Monarch from Vermont has been recovered in Mexico. And there could be more to come. Monarch Watch (www.monarchwatch.org) still has another 500 or so tags to post on its web site. So stay tuned.

Bryan Pfeiffer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Vermont Butterfly Survey A Project of the Vermont Institute of Natural Science

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Woodstock, VT 05091
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