It's a monarch butterfly jail break. Each year inmates at the Walla Walla Penitentiary in Washington state rear thousands of monarch butterflies and release them as they mature up until early October. That's when the last of these majestic insects should be winging their way down to Mexico, where they will spend their winter among acres of fir trees. This release is part of a Washington State University (WSU) project that "tags" the delicate creatures in order to track their southward progress.

Of course, no traditional metal band or GPS tag could be slapped onto a butterfly without harming it, so WSU researcher David James, who heads the project, has his colleagues and participating inmates carefully place a small and lightweight sticker on the underside of a wing.

"We are beginning to get reports of people seeing them but we'd like to alert more people to be on the watch for them in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Arizona," James announced earlier this month.

The tags are used as part of a word-of-mouth tracking system. Because the tags are simply stickers, there is no concrete way to track the butterflies, save for the chance that an enthused citizen will come across a tagged monarch and contact the email printed on the tag. (Scroll to read on...)

"As well as providing potential data points, these releases are making a significant contribution to the conservation of this American icon," James added.

The monarchs make an astounding migration south every year, one that averages around 2,000 miles. However, past research has revealed that fewer and fewer butterflies are making it to their ultimate destination with each new year, as the species has become very vulnerable to fir tree decline, milkweed decline, and even electromagnetic interference of their internal compasses.

In fact, the monarch butterfly was recently made a protected species under the Endangered Species Act, after it was found that the species has declined more than 90 percent since 1990.

This, of course, makes tracking the last of this species all the more important. The WSU scientists and Walla Walla inmates, fondly referred to as "butterfly wranglers," plan to release about 2,500 monarchs before October. If you happen to spot one, be sure to contact monarch@wsu.edu.


[Credit: Washington State University, 2012]