Rotarians help monarch tracking

Bianca Cheney at release

Rotarians and family members helped with the release of 200 tagged monarch butterflies during the 19th annual Dragonfly Festival at Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge east of Roswell.

This year’s festival was held Sept. 10 at the refuge, 4200 E. Pine Lodge Road.

Rotarian Warren Yehl and club president Bianca Cheney led the Roswell Rotary Club effort to release the butterflies

The club contributed to the purchase of the butterflies this year from a 2022-23 District 5520 grant.

“We will be asked to work on the butterfly trail at a later date,” Cheney added. “The monarchs are marked with a special tag so when they are caught, locations and distance traveled can be documented.”

The wildlife refuge reported each butterfly had a special numbered light sticker affixed to its wing. This sticker, which does not hinder the butterfly’s flight, helps scientists keep track of the monarchs’ migration routes.

Volunteers in Mexico locate the monarchs in their overwintering sites and on their spring migration back through North America.

Information collected also helps conservationists set aside migration corridors for the butterflies and promote planting milkweed along the way. Monarch caterpillars require milkweed to survive, the refuge reported.

The Warren Yehl family and Bianca Cheney help a Bitter Lake Wildlife Refuge ranger with the release of monarch butterflies.