How Do You Tag A Butterfly?

[Isabelle]

I recently heard that butterflies have a life span of 5-14 days, with the exception of the Monarch butterfly. I faintly remember that Monarch Butterflies migrate to the same place every year and that scientiests tag them to track their moves.

1. How would you tag a butterfly?

It seems to me if you tagged a butterfly the weight would really throw the flight of the butterfly off

2. How would the tag stay on the butterfly?

[Phage]

I am thinking that you would either

1. Use something thin like cellophane with a number pre-printed on it, or
2. Have a tiny stamp like they use in libraries (but smaller) and put it someplace without fuzz.

[mangeorge]

You apply a dab of paint to the little rascal. Saw it on tv, so it must be true.
Peace,
mangeorge

[Mangetout]

Second what mangeorge said - on TV, I’ve seen paint (sometimes several different coloured blobs for coding location of origin etc being applied to the abdomen of insects.

I also seem to recall a kind of hole-punch (like a ticket punch, but making a small geometric hole) being used to mark the wings of butterflies, but I rather think this might not be favoured anymore.

[DrFidelius]

You put the paint dots on the wing, be sure to brush off the scales first.

[pcroughn]

I’ve had some experience tagging butterflies. Its possible, but takes a bit of creativity.

What I did was say something like, “This is lame, I quit.” When the butterfly comes over to see if I want to play something else, I say, “Psyche!”, tag him really quick and run like hell! Sure, they bitch about cheating, but then I’m like, “Hey, you’ll be dead in 5 - 14 days, you gonna spend your whole life bitching?”

Deep down, though, I think they are impressed by my cunning.

[Colibri]

Actual tags may also be applied: From here:

What Dr. Urquhart and other scientists needed was something like the method used to study the movements of migrating birds, which had been tracked for years by fastening numbered bands around their legs. They were quite puzzled on how to track individual butterflies.

What they needed were wing tags–but they had to be lightweight so as not to interfere with the monarch’s flight, waterproof, adhesive, easy to attach, and large enough to carry legible information. It took Dr. Urquhart twenty years of trying different methods, but in 1950 he finally found a workable tag.

The tag looks very similar to the self-adhesive price tags used in grocery stores. It is about the size of a thumbnail, each tag was printed with a number and mailing address where the finder could return it. The tags were attached by folding them over the leading edge of the butterflies’ right front wing and pressing gently between thumb and finger.