At Butterfly Haven in Pingree, they have a new high-tech upgrade to their continued monarch butterfly research.

For several years, Randy and Karen Reed, owners of The Butterfly Haven, have taken part in tagging monarchs for migration research aimed at determining whether Idaho’s monarch population flies south to Mexico or west to California. While it’s long been speculated that Idaho monarchs head to California, the research remains ongoing in an effort to pin down their true migration path.

This project is being led by Washington State University professor Dr. David James, an entomologist and leading authority on monarch butterflies.

This year, the research reached new heights with the introduction of an RFID tracking device small enough to attach to a monarch’s body. Each tracker sends real-time location data to an app, allowing researchers to watch exactly where a butterfly is flying using Bluetooth technology and solar power.

For years, the monarchs have been tagged with small paper tags printed with a tracking number and the following website: wsu.edu. Since 2012, over 11,000 monarchs have been tagged and released, but not many have been spotted by citizens — this research and new technology looks to help with that.

This year, researchers are able to watch each monarch’s migration path unfold in real time. Wings Rising, a monarch conservation group, and Dr. James selected three release sites across southeastern Idaho: The Butterfly Haven in Pingree, a site in Samaria and the Orton Botanical Garden in Twin Falls. In total, 30 monarchs were tagged and released in Pingree, and 10 each in Samaria and Twin Falls — all within the past two weeks.

The stakes for this research have grown in recent years. In 2022, the International Union for Conservation of Nature added the monarch butterfly to its Red List as endangered, citing a population decline of more than 85% since the 1990s. In the U.S., the Fish and Wildlife Service has separately proposed listing the monarch as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act, though a final decision remains pending.