Tiny Bluetooth tags now track monarch butterflies' incredible journey from Canada to Mexico, revealing new migration routes

Since a long time, tracking a tagged monarch butterfly depended on luck. Someone had to find the tiny tag on the butterfly’s wing somewhere along its migration route and report it. But things changed after Nature NB started using new technology to make monarch butterfly tracking easier from this year, reports CBC News. The organization has used Bluetooth-enabled tags on monarch butterflies in New Brunswick for the first time, working with the Saint John Naturalist Club, Point Lepreau Bird Observatory and Environment and Climate Change Canada. “It’s a very exciting new chapter in the monarch conservation world in the Maritimes,” said Francie Morgan, program co-ordinator with Nature NB.

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How do the monarch butterfly tags work?

The new tags, identified as BluMorpho tags, are are solar-powered and weigh about 0.066 grams. And the striking part is that only a small part of a monarch butterfly’s roughly half-gram body weight. The tags are attached to the butterfly’s thorax with a small amount of eyelash glue and a tiny antenna runs along the length of its abdomen.


Unlike traditional monarch butterfly wing tags, which require someone to physically find and report the butterfly, BluMorpho tags use Bluetooth technology to collect information. When someone with Bluetooth turned on comes within about 100 metres of a tagged monarch, their phone can automatically record a data point. People can also download the Project Monarch app to scan for the tags and follow the monarch migration.

Jim Wilson, a birder and naturalist with the Point Lepreau Bird Observatory, explained that the new technology is a major change from the old tracking method. In the past, researchers placed a numbered tag on a monarch butterfly and hoped someone would find it and report it during its journey from Canada to Mexico.

With the new monarch tracking technology, people can check online to see where a tagged monarch is. The technology was first used on monarch butterflies in Canada last year through a partnership between Environment and Climate Change Canada and Birds Canada in southern Ontario.

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Why are monarch butterflies being tracked in New Brunswick?

Nature NB later received funding from the Environmental Trust Fund of New Brunswick and 10 additional tags from the federal government. The organization planned to use 35 tags this season, but delays at the border have affected the project.

“Half of our tags are stuck at the border,” Morgan said. Nature NB expects to use 22 monarch butterfly tags by the end of the season. Another 13 could be used if the remaining shipment arrives in time.

The new monarch tracking technology has already provided information about migration routes in New Brunswick. Point Lepreau, which extends into the Bay of Fundy, has long been considered an important stop for monarch butterflies before they continue south toward Grand Manan.

The new Bluetooth tags have supported that idea and three tagged monarchs that left Point Lepreau were later detected on Grand Manan. Strong westerly winds also produced an unexpected finding. Three tagged monarchs ended up in Nova Scotia instead of continuing south, giving researchers more information about how weather and wind may affect monarch migration.

Tracking could help protect monarch migration routes

Researchers say tracking individual monarch butterflies could help identify the natural routes they depend on, including coastlines, river valleys and mountain ranges.

Monarch butterflies need flowering plants for nectar during their long journey to Mexico. Researchers hope better tracking will show where the butterflies travel and help conservationists protect important monarch migration routes.

People can follow the tagged monarch butterflies by downloading the free Project Monarch app. Tags used in New Brunswick begin with the PLBO prefix, which stands for Point Lepreau Bird Observatory.

By the end of the season, Nature NB expects 22 monarch butterflies in New Brunswick to have been tracked using the new technology.