Citizen scientists tag, learn about monarch butterflies

FORT CAVAZOS, Texas - Tall spikes of deep purple liatris blooms sway in the breeze of a training area. Among the flowers, volunteers clad in bright safety vests are scattered, their eyes sharp and movements quick. Each armed with a mesh net, focused on the fluttering monarch butterflies that dart from bloom to bloom. Spotting their vibrant orange and black wings, Col. Lakicia Stokes, U.S. Army Garrison-Fort Cavazos commander, and her 10-year-old son, Gregory Stokes III, quietly approach a monarch before using the up-and-over capture technique.

"Engaging our youth, families and the warfighters in environmental stewardship is invaluable and creates lasting impacts locally and across the Department of Defense," Stokes said. "My family was one of many today who were able to add a unique layer to the Army's involvement in scientific data and research. This collaborative approach not only strengthens our community, but also reinforces a shared commitment to sustainability."

Fort Cavazos biologists with the Adaptive and Integrative Management Team hosted the fourth annual monarch-tagging event for 32 Soldiers, civilians and their families Oct. 19 at Fort Cavazos. The event provided them a unique chance to contribute to scientific research as citizen scientists. It also demonstrated how military lands serve dual purposes - supporting the warfighter's mission readiness and biodiversity for wildlife species.

Brad Burden, research and monitoring coordinator for the AIM Team, and his crew lead a caravan of vehicles out to training areas 8 and 35. The group of citizen scientists gathered around a canopy, and the event kicked off with educational talks highlighting the monarch's life cycle, nectar sources and migration.

"The AIM Team works with mission-sensitive species like the monarch butterfly that, if listed under the Endangered Species Act, would affect military mission readiness in the training areas," Burden said. "Through conservation measures and proactive management of birds, pollinators and grassland habitats, we can do our part to support the warfighter."

Volunteers learned how every year, monarchs undertake a remarkable multigenerational migration across North America, traveling to overwintering sites in Mexico. Along their journey monarchs pass through Fort Cavazos where the training areas are home to native, nectar-rich plants essential for their survival.

Laney Rather-Weymouth, a pollinator biologist for the AIM Team, explained how queen, viceroy and soldier butterflies closely mimic monarchs, sharing similar colorings and markings, to deter predators.

"Queens do not have the dark black veins; their white spots do not touch any black, and they have an orange abdomen," Rather-Weymouth said. "As caterpillars, they also look extremely similar. Monarchs only have two sets of tentacles, while queens have three sets, and the extra set is in the middle of their body."

With an understanding of how to differentiate between the queen and monarch, which is
commonly seen on Fort Cavazos during the fall migration, volunteers suited up with their safety vests and nets in hand ready to scout the training area for monarchs. After each monarch was captured, an AIM biologist assisted with removing the monarch from the net and carefully placing it into a glassine envelope.

At the conclusion of the catching session, volunteers gathered to see the next steps of data collection and tagging for Monarch Watch, a nonprofit based at the University of Kansas at Lawrence, Kansas, that studies monarch migration.

After documenting the tag code, tag date, gender, geographic location, mass, wing measurements, wear and tear, and an Ophryocystis elektroscirrha sample of each of the monarchs captured, a tiny sticker with a tag code is gently placed onto the monarch's hind wing. Each sticker has an alpha-numeric code unique to that individual monarch. The monarch is then released with the hopes it will be recovered by researchers and citizen scientists, at the end of its migration, to reveal the butterfly's path.

The 21 monarchs from the tagging event added to the AIM Team's total of 11,673 monarchs captured, tagged and released since the inception of the Fort Cavazos tagging program in 2017.

"This citizen-science experience not only nurtures awareness of monarchs and the work of our biologists, but also gives our warfighter a glimpse of how our training lands are multipurpose - serving both mission readiness and environmental sustainability," Stokes said. "By connecting with our community and nature, we build resilience and create lasting ties that strengthen both our mission and our spirit."

To learn more about citizen-science opportunities at Fort Cavazos, like and follow Facebook.com/Fort.Cavazos.AIM.Team.

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