Week of September 27, 2026 – October 3, 2026
by Amelia Gross, Environmental Educator
Imagine for a second you are a three week old monarch butterfly. You’ve hatched from an egg laid on milkweed somewhere near Montreal and spent about two weeks as a caterpillar chewing through 200 times your weight of that same plant. After several rounds of shedding your exoskeleton (and eating that too), you’ve found a safe spot to transform into a chrysalis, where you spent yet another two weeks. Eventually you emerge, a fully formed monarch butterfly with vibrant bright orange and black wings.
Congratulations! You’re part of the 1% of monarch caterpillars who reach this adult stage, but your journey is far from over. As the air cools and the leaves begin to change colors, something signals inside of you that it is time to head south. So, you leave Montreal and over the course of the next few weeks fly through Central New York before continuing southwest through Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kentucky.
This is not a hypothetical, this is the life of a real monarch butterfly, labeled INS12, being studied through Project Monarch. In an effort to better understand monarch migration patterns, butterflies like INS12 have been tagged with grain of rice sized transmitters that can be detected by smartphones, like bluetooth. This passive transmission technology allows researchers to track the specific routes taken by hundreds of migratory monarchs. This new, high-tech approach is one of a long line of monarch tracking methods, dating back to when their migration patterns were just beginning to be understood.
In the 1950’s, scientists Fred and Norah Urquhart began a project labeling monarchs with adhesive tags in an effort to answer the mystery of where monarchs go each winter. They recruited thousands of citizen scientist volunteers to report sightings of the tagged butterflies, and with other dedicated naturalists and scientists, they uncovered that each year one generation of monarchs migrates to the mountains of Mexico to spend the winter. And that is just where INS12 is heading.
When he arrives he will join millions of others who will conserve their energy until spring when they can begin to reproduce. The next generation will begin to fly north, but will not travel nearly as far as their parents. They will only live 4-5 weeks, covering about 50 miles a day where they will lay the eggs that will continue the journey they started.
This multi-generational migration cycle remains of fascination with scientists, and there is always more to learn. Maybe you noticed some monarchs on the Meadow Trail earlier this fall, and next time you spot one, remember how far they’ve traveled (or how much they have left to go). If you’re interested in continuing the legacy of citizen science, or following along with INS12, you can learn more about Project Monarch here.