[Jacqui]

It helps to let people know in your community that YOU are tagging monarch butterflies. Here are some ideas… please add to the list in follow-up replies.

Janelle contacted her local community via Facebook:

…just wanting to make people aware of the butterfly tagging program that runs in NZ and to ask people to please report any sightings or found butterflies onto the website. Monarch butterflies are tagged with a small sticker on the day they emerge, this code is then lodged online by the tagger and then can be reported when found or seen by anyone and will give information to the butterfly trust of nz as to the wintering behaviour of the butterfly. Butterflies don’t just live for a day or week as you may have been told, in summer they live for around a month and in winter they can last the whole winter gathered together in trees for warmth. More information can be found on the website and the program is free to join if anyone is interested in helping with the monarch research. Each tag has its own code of 3 letters and 3 numbers so these all need to be entered. Also the website is on the tag (www.mb.org.nz) so you don’t have to remember it or find this post.”

Well done Janelle!

Of course that could also be shared on Neighbourly, another forum.

Chrissie writes a letter to the Editor each year – I will ask her to share that. Obviously, you would want to change the details to suit your community. And send it to any or all newspapers in your area – even radio stations.

[Vicki B]

I did post Janelle’s post on my local community facebook page, and got a reply from a near neighbour who is also tagging 🙂

[Daisyleigh78]

I’ll definitely be using these posts…great stuff

[Jacqui]

Actually… if people are using Chrissie’s letter, they can delete the reference to our PO Box.

It is best if people use the website to report the data – that way it goes straight into the database. It is so much more rewarding! Surely everyone knows someone on the internet these days?

[Vicki B]

Thanks for posting this topic. I have copied Janelle’s post and will put it on my Community Facebook page and on Neighbourly. Great way to spread the word about tagging, and maybe get more interest in helping Monarchs thrive in NZ, I think 🙂

[Chrissie Ward]

I sent this letter to my local newspaper, the ‘Nelson Mail’.

Monarch butterflies were once common in Nelson Tasman, but are now under huge pressure, particularly from paper wasps.
To keep the population going until a solution to the wasp problem can be found, local enthusiasts are raising monarchs, either inside or outside under protection. Some of us are also involved in tagging butterflies in order to track how far and in what directions they travel. The tag is a small white paper disk which is attached to the underside of one wing. It doesn’t harm the butterfly or prevent it from flying naturally. Printed on the disk is a unique number, together with the website address of the Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust: http://www.mb.org.nz.
If you come across a tagged butterfly, whether it is alive or dead, please report your finding either to http://www.mb.org.nz or to MBNZT, PO Box 44100, Pt Chevalier, Auckland 1246. Please record its identifying number, and where and when you found it. Thank you for your help with this ongoing ‘citizen science’ project.

[Author]

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