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Show chasing after monarclis tag tells where the hiitterfilrs been by Gerald J. Tajlor Tribune Staff Writer Li ACH summer, Matt Limburg spends most of his waking hours sticking tiny paper tags to the wings of butterflies he's hunted down around his home and Holladay Salt Lake throughout Valley. While to the casual observer such a project at best might seem frivolous, Matt says its all in the interest of science. The associates since 1963. And, his work is without wore a red shirt one day, and got chased by a bull; Ive fallen into irrigat- ion canals several times, and a few people have run me off their property after saying sure , . . when I told them what I was doing. Matts encounters with irrigation canals are frequent, for that's the best place to find the Monarchs in their caterpillar stage. They feed on milkweed plants along the canal he explains. banks, SINCE finding and catching the adult butterfly in the field often poses problems, Malt takes the caterpillars home (he has about 100 of them now), feeds milkweed them leaves, cares for them much as a mother would an infant, and then watches the magical transformation as the caterpillar weaves a silk chrysalis (cocoon) and 15 days later spreads its wings as a butterfly. Univer- ... tiny paper tag, which adheres to the insect through any kind of weather it encounters on its journey, is the key to tin proj- ect. A LOT of people who see me working out in the field think Im crazy, says Matt, whos been one of Professor Urquharl's m - r ruiiiiiiLin.nwiiiin.rr nil finwn uy xiiijr: iij j, ,r: m hazard: 1 sity of Utah student (hes majoring in broadcasting not butterflies) is one of about 450 research associates across the Uniled States and Canada working with University of Toronto professor Fred A. Urquhart in tracing migration patterns of the majestic Monarch butterfly. The not Hut, whether Matt rears them at home or catches mi nr Tit- them on the wdng, his jective is the same: ob- tag- ging- To tag the insect, he rubs the scales off the edge of one wing and wraps a selfadhering tag, about half the size of a small price tag, over the edge of the The wing. Salt On the tag, provided by Professor Urquhart, is a number and a message asking that the finder mail the butterfly and the address of its capture to the Universily of Toronto. Lake AS HE places the tag on the butterfly, Matt makes notations of the date, wind conditions, temperature and cloud cover on a form and mails it to Professor Urquhart. If the specimen is returned, the number on the tag allows researchers to learn the origin and climatic conditions of the butterfly's tagging. success with having a I've specimen returned, had two returned . . . but they werent very spectacular. butterflies tagged arc returned," says Matt. But. theyre often re turned from points several hundred miles from the tagging location," As for Matt's peisonnl ' " v r n mT of my life, is to find out where the Monarchs that come here originate . . . and where they go when they leave," he says. One was returned by the lady next door, who must have caught the 1 Monarch after just tagged The other was sent in by a man living about a mile from my house." But, lie's not discouraged. "MY GOAL, if it takes Only about two of every 100 me the rest His most recent project is to tag a specimen, then still living rush it via air mail to Texas, where a fellow associate releases it, "Theres a shortage of Monarchs in Texas, arid Professor Urquhart wants to release as many as pos I it T nr ruiTimriTriinirruii putnii iiihiihhi sible with special tags in Spanish hojres at least one will be returned to give researchers a clue where the Monarch goes when he from Texas," migrates explains Matt. printed in So, if you should happen to find a butterfly with a white spot on its wings, check it out you may be able to make a personal contribution research.,. tumiw nuumii hipij inrui mirT to the 7, 1971 |
