Monarch Butterfly (Left) and Male Regal Fritillary (Right)
Since 2015 the Crane Trust has been monitoring two butterfly species of concern within the state of Nebraska: the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) and the Regal Fritillary (Speyeria idalia). With both of these butterfly species we have been seeing declines in their populations. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission reached out about the start of their surveying efforts for these two butterfly species of concern and that prompted the Crane Trust to follow suit. By conducting these surveys we are able to help contribute to regional knowledge as well as efforts that are focused on trying to attempt to list either species under the Endangered Species Act. Through these surveys we are able to gather information on the impacts of land management on either species as well as other species locally, allowing us to share what is found with others.
To conduct the butterfly surveys we used 21 of our established long-term monitoring plots and two researchers walked a 200 meter (~656 feet) transect in 15 minutes. While our researchers walked the transect they scanned the area to the sides and in front of them for butterflies with binoculars. The detection of butterflies was limited to the distance in which a butterfly is able to be identified with binoculars. When a butterfly was spotted it was noted if it was within 10 meters of the transect line or outside, and with the Regal Fritillary butterfly researchers noted within 10 meters if it was a male or female. A male Regal Fritillary has one row of white spots and a row of orange spots on their bottom/hindwings, while the female has two rows of white spots on their hindwings. We also took note of what plants the two butterfly species landed on as well as any incidental sightings of Monarch butterflies or Regal Fritillary butterflies outside of our standard surveys. Three total butterfly surveys were conducted at each of the selected long-term monitoring plots for the surveys, two were completed from June 15th to August 1st and the last survey was completed between August 25th to September 15th. These timeframes targeted peak activity of either the male or female Regal Fritillary butterflies.
I really enjoyed participating in the butterfly surveys. It challenged me and my identification skills, especially when trying to accurately identify Regal Fritillary butterflies. The Regal Fritillary butterflies tend to have an erratic flight, where they move around a lot and to see the two rows of dots takes a bit of coordination of following the butterfly with your binoculars and waiting for a good flap of wings. I remember on one of the first surveys we had around 7 Regal Fritillary butterflies flying around and trying to keep track of each butterfly was tricky and then trying to identify them all to male and female was tough. We got them all identified in the end though!
Male Regal Fritillary (one row of white spots and one row of orange spots)
Another fun butterfly activity that the science team does as well is monarch butterfly tagging. We order tags to place on the monarchs and then head out to go catch some butterflies. After catching a butterfly we record the tag number and if the monarch is a male or female. Once we have all the information we enter the data on the Monarch Watch app or on their website monarchwatch.org. The Monarch Watch is a citizen science project, meaning anyone is able to get the tags to place on the monarchs and help provide data to the project. This year was an amazing year for tagging monarchs here at the Crane Trust. Everyone had been seeing more and more monarchs flying about and the science team decided it would be a good to try and see if we would be able to tag some butterflies. There were strong southern winds (20+ mph) and I learned last year that looking for butterflies along shrubland/woodland edges on the opposite side of the wind tends to work out great. So with the strong southern winds the science team went out and looked on the north side of shrubland/woodland edges to find monarch butterflies. It was successful! Will, Elsa, and I each got a butterfly in our butterfly nets to tag right away. I had a really cool experience during the tagging time too! I was in search of more butterflies to catch and tag when I accidentally spooked a large group of monarchs that were hanging out on a low branch of a cottonwood tree. All around me were orange and black wings fluttering about. I was completely surrounded by the monarchs. It was such an extraordinary experience! After an hour and half of running around in search of more monarch groups we had caught and tagged 36 monarchs with only one recapture (one we tagged already). In total we had 50 tags to place on monarchs so as a group we decided to try another location to use the rest of our tags. In about 20 minutes at the new location we filled the final 14 tags.
Monarch tags (left) and Monarch with tag (right)
Sometimes when trying to catch a monarch we lucked out and caught a couple in one go. We would make sure to quickly and safely get each butterfly out of the net, tagged, and released in these cases.
Overall I had a blast tagging monarchs and participating in our butterfly species of concern surveys!
Thanks for reading! Till next time,
Emma Richards
Lila O. Wilson Biological Monitoring Fellow
erichards@cranetrust.org