Monarch resurgence on P.E.I. gives environmental group butterflies

A P.E.I. environmental group is excited and relieved by thenumber of monarch butterflies it's been able to tag this year.

The Bedeque Bay Environmental Management Association was concerned for the butterfly population, after only six were tagged last year.

But crews have tagged and released about 350 so far this year. In 2022, more than 500 migrant butterflies were tagged before they flew south for the winter.

"There was concerns last year that this might be a resounding end to the monarch in our region, but nope, they've bounced back," said executive director Tracy Brown.

"Most of our monarchs are tagged and out the door and hopefully on their way to Mexico by now."

The low numbers last year may have been caused by a drought in Texas or the large numberof wildfires, Brown said.

The group is also working with the University of Georgia this year to monitor for the parasite ophryocystis elektroscirrhathat can impede the development from caterpillar to butterfly.

"We're actually taking scale samples from the abdomens, random samples from the ones we tag before release," Brown said.

"Those scales, when you pull them off, we'll set them and then we will actually be sending them down to the lab at the University of Georgia for them to analyze to see what the occurrence of thisprotozoa pathogen is on our butterflies in P.E.I. and Atlantic Canada."

Those results are expected in the winter.

3-pronged conservation initiative

It's all part of a three-pronged conservation initiative that also includes enhancements to habitats by planting native plants and native milkweed.

The migratory period generally runs from August to mid-September, so the focus now is getting the remaining monarchs tagged, which, Brown said, has to be done "very carefully."

Butterflies have scales, not feathers, on their wings, and it's crucial to avoid rubbing or dislodging the scales when applying the tag.

"And then you press it very securely, very deliberately, and then you let go."