The cooler temperatures the Phoenix area has been experiencing this week might mean you’re a little more excited to go outside, and cooler weather also means we’ll soon be seeing monarch butterflies back in the Garden! While Phoenix summer temperatures are too hot for monarchs, these butterflies will soon start to make their way back into the Valley. Some of these butterflies will migrate to the coast of California or central Mexico for the winter, while some will stay in Phoenix. Garden researchers have big plans for studying monarch movement and behavior this fall and you can help.
Last year, Garden staff began testing solar-powered radio tags, developed by Cellular Tracking Technologies, that allow tracking of monarchs remotely via Bluetooth. Anyone can detect these tags via their smartphone with the free Project Monarch app, and staff plan to radio tag monarchs in the Garden this fall and spring so make sure you are scanning for monarchs on your visit! Arizona, with its great diversity of ecosystems, is a unique place for monarch butterflies. Radio tagging allows researchers to get real-time information on how monarchs are moving and will reveal patterns and behaviors that simply haven’t been seen before!
Monarch butterflies need milkweed, it’s the only plant they’ll lay their eggs on and their caterpillars will eat. If you have milkweed in your yard or community, you can contribute data that helps Garden researchers better understand monarch behavior in Arizona. Sign up to join Desert Refuge, a community science program hosted by Desert Botanical Garden and the USA-National Phenology Network. By answering simple questions about your milkweeds and looking for caterpillars and butterflies, you can contribute critical data that will help researchers and land managers better plan for monarch conservation in the state. If you need milkweed, our 50th Anniversary Plant Sale is a great place to find many native species.
Project Monarch app for Android
Project Monarch app for Apple
