Scientists Track 1,750 Monarch Butterflies With Solar Radio Tags

NAPA & DAVIS, Calif. — Conservation biologists across North America have attached ultralight solar-powered radio transmitters to nearly 1,750 monarch butterflies this year to pinpoint the critical nectar and overnight roosting habitats the pollinators rely upon during their 3,000-mile (4,800-kilometer) migration from southern Canada to the oyamel fir forests of central Mexico.

Solar-Powered Radio Tags Track 1,750 Monarchs Across the 'Texas Funnel' and Western Flyways

As reported by KCBS Radio / The Associated Press, Rebeca Quiñonez-Piñón, senior scientist at the National Wildlife Federation, is leading a study within a tri-national science team (Project Monarch Collaboration) that combines real-time telemetry with community science through the free Project Monarch Science mobile app.

The $200 solar-powered radio tags, developed by Cellular Tracking Technologies and coordinated by vice president of global market development David La Puma, weigh roughly as much as a drop of water. To ensure the insects are not overburdened, researchers select longer-winged monarchs weighing more than 400 milligrams (about the weight of a standard pill), calming them in cool temperatures before swabbing adhesive onto the abdomen to attach the transmitter.

Since tracking launched last year, about 175 tagged butterflies have been detected in Mexico during the current migration, revealing previously unconfirmed migratory links—including the first documented case of a monarch tagged in Utah, west of the Rocky Mountains, joining eastern monarchs in central Mexico, as well as butterflies flying down the Eastern Seaboard to Florida and crossing the Gulf of Mexico:

• Scientific Assessment: Emma Pelton, senior conservation biologist with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, said researchers are "thrilled" after 1 year of deployment, while University of California, Davis (UC Davis) insect ecologist Louie Yang called the receiver-based path and speed data "pretty remarkable" while noting that future studies will examine whether tags affect behavior.
• Population Trends & 2030 Legal Deadline: While non-migratory monarchs live 2 to 6 weeks, migratory monarchs live up to 9 months. Since the mid-1990s (1990s), eastern monarch populations have fallen by more than 80%, and western monarchs—whose overwintering groves in California face development pressure—have declined by about 95% due to milkweed loss from pesticides, drought, and warming autumn temperatures cited by Tierra Curry, senior scientist and endangered species codirector at the Center for Biological Diversity. Following a lawsuit over delayed federal Endangered Species Act protections, a court ordered the federal government to issue a final listing decision by 2030.

Culinary Craft: Baking Co. Founders Open Vina Vietnamese Street-Food Kitchen

In a national culinary opening reported by Hoodline, husband-and-wife owners Jeff Kirshenbaum and Chef Uyen Kirshenbaum—who founded Kirshenbaum Baking Co. in 2022 and opened a second bakery in Morristown on August 23, 2024—have opened Vina, a full-service Vietnamese street-food restaurant at 114 Quimby St. in Downtown Westfield, ahead of a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony on November 10.

Inspired by her mother and raised as the youngest of 6 sisters, Chef Uyen Kirshenbaum prepares in-house proteins and pickled vegetables for crispy Vietnamese pork egg rolls, gỏi salad with tiger shrimp, stewed pork belly with soft-boiled eggs, chicken pâté chaud, and banh mi served on baguettes baked by Kirshenbaum Baking Co. The restaurant operates Tuesday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. (closed Mondays; reachable at 908-228-2855).