Monarch Health

Monarch Health Monarch Health: A community science project where volunteers across North America monitor the health of wild monarchs.

We collaborate with participants to track the spread of the parasite Ophryocystis elektroscirrha over geographic space and through time. Monarch Health is a community science project to track the prevalence of the protozoan parasite Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (OE) in monarch butterflies. This parasite does not infect humans but can make butterflies sick: Monarchs infected with OE often do not fly

as well or live as long as uninfected monarchs. Infected monarchs may look deformed after they emerge from their chrysalis, or they may appear completely normal. To test monarchs for OE infection, volunteer participants (1) Obtain wild adult monarchs by either catching or rearing them, and (2) Press a clear sticker against the monarchs' abdomen to collect any parasites (which are external at this stage). Monarchs are then released, entirely unharmed. At the Altizer lab at the University of Georgia, we examine each sample using a microscope to detect OE parasites. We share all results with participants, answer questions about monarch diseases, and send free sampling kits to volunteers.

04/25/2026

This space is absolutely bussin' no cap. 👌

We had a blast at Colham Ferry Elementary’s STEM night! If you are in the Athens area, please consider us for your next ...
04/24/2026

We had a blast at Colham Ferry Elementary’s STEM night! If you are in the Athens area, please consider us for your next STEM night or school event!

🌡️Higher temperatures may make monarch butterflies more vulnerable to parasites, according to new research from the Univ...
04/23/2026

🌡️Higher temperatures may make monarch butterflies more vulnerable to parasites, according to new research from the University of Georgia. The study found that monarchs exposed to elevated temperatures were 22% less tolerant of infection.

🤒“What does tolerance of an infection mean? If you have the flu, it’s the difference between you being in the hospital or just having a stuffy nose,” said Sonia Altizer, lead author of the study and entomology department head in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Warmer temperatures cause toxic milkweed to lose its protective effect on monarchs, thereby increasing infection rates.

Published in Ecological Entomology, the study was led by Isabella Ragonese as part of her doctoral dissertation in the UGA Odum School of Ecology and Christopher Brandon as part of his undergraduate honors thesis.

Additional co-authors include Joselyne Chavez, Jacobus de Roode and UGA ecology associate professor Richard Hall.

Happy Earth Day! 🌎Today is a reminder to care for it, everyday.
04/22/2026

Happy Earth Day! 🌎
Today is a reminder to care for it, everyday.

📣Calling all monarch butterfly enthusiasts— the GA DNR needs your help!📣Monarch sightings during the winter can determin...
12/05/2025

📣Calling all monarch butterfly enthusiasts— the GA DNR needs your help!📣

Monarch sightings during the winter can determine if the species can overwinter as non-breeding adults in the southern U.S. and how this might affect future population numbers.

Understanding migration and overwintering behavior is crucial to conserving monarchs, who are up for a spot on the Endangered Species list.

Thousands of monarch butterflies fly South each fall to overwinter in central Mexico— but not all monarchs.

If you spot a monarch in any stage (adult, egg, larval, and pupal) from November to March in the Southeast United States, please report it through Journey North or iNaturalist.🚨🦋

🔗Link to DNR press release:https://gadnr.org/winter-watch-project-seeks-monarch-sightings-southeast-1

Want to track a monarch? 🦋Well now you can thanks to ultra-light transmitters developed by Cellular Tracking Technologie...
11/21/2025

Want to track a monarch? 🦋

Well now you can thanks to ultra-light transmitters developed by Cellular Tracking Technologies!
This incredible new technology will help researchers better understand monarch migration and conservation. Monarch tracking isn’t just for researchers, either. You can download the Project Monarch Science app on your smartphone too! 📲📍

Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/science/monarch-butterfly-migration-tracking-sensor.html
https://bit.ly/ProjectMonarchCollabPhotos
https://celltracktech.com/pages/project-monarch-collaboration-2025
https://monarchjointventure.org/blog/revolutionary-tracking-study-follows-monarchs

11/19/2025

Monarchs make the New York Times....

We’re excited to share that the New York Times published an article today about the Project Monarch Collaboration’s efforts to track monarchs this fall using novel technology. Find the link to the article in the comments section of this post.

Founded through a partnership between Cellular Tracking Technologies and the Cape May Point Arts and Science Center, the Project Monarch Collaboration involves the amazing efforts of lots of conservation organizations and scientists to deploy BlūMorpho radio tags on monarchs during the fall migration this year. We're grateful that Monarch Watch could be a participant.

This groundbreaking project paves the way for new opportunities to study the monarch migration. We’ll be sharing more this week about the monarchs that we tagged, so stay tuned!

Photo credit: Sheldon Blackshire

11/19/2025

Over 20 partner organizations, including the Monarch Joint Venture, came together to deploy over 400 transmitters on migrating monarchs during fall 2025 for Project Monarch, a collaborative effort founded by Cellular Tracking Technologies and the Cape May Point Arts & Science Center.

The project has shattered previous limitations in butterfly tracking, providing scientists with high-resolution, near-real-time data on individual butterflies as they navigate their incredible fall journey.

Tagged monarchs have been tracked from the Rocky Mountains to the East Coast on their travels down to Florida, Mexico, and the Caribbean. As of Nov. 9, some tagged monarchs started reaching overwintering areas in Mexico.

Take a look at the map of this year's tagged monarchs here, or download the Project Monarch app to view individual monarchs' migration routes.

For more information on this collaborative effort, as well as a recent New York Times feature story, check the comments.

🦋 We're excited to share the results of volunteer-based monitoring efforts from 2024! 🦋 In the attached newsletter, you ...
11/07/2025

🦋 We're excited to share the results of volunteer-based monitoring efforts from 2024! 🦋
In the attached newsletter, you may read more about highlights such as:
🐛 Where was OE infection prevalence highest in 2024? Over 60% of samples we received from the South were infected. Meanwhile, the Central US had the least infection prevalence, with a little over 20% of samples heavily infected with OE.
🦋 PMH trends: in the past 10 years, how have infection prevalence and the amount of samples received by PMH changed? We summarize a decade of citizen science data.
🔬 What's the host range of OE? A study published by a recent PhD graduate from the Altizer lab, where our project is based, tracked parasite infections across six continents.
We would like to thank Sydney Weigand at UGA for helping us develop this newsletter. We also thank our volunteers for dedicating their time and effort to helping us spread scientific knowledge on monarch ecology and conservation. We wouldn't have these results without your dedication and support! 👏
🧡 Link to all newsletters on our website: https://lnkd.in/eWicZPu8
🧡 Link to give: https://lnkd.in/ezikPX9i
https://lnkd.in/eWicZPu8

Happy Halloween from the PMH team!🎃Here is our take on the Silence of the Lambs movie poster! 🦋 ...
10/31/2025

Happy Halloween from the PMH team!🎃

Here is our take on the Silence of the Lambs movie poster! 🦋

Address

410 Cedar Street Bldg C
Athens, GA
30602

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

(706) 542-3485

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