Post your Monarch sightings (egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly) to iNaturalist!
Very little information is available about where in New Mexico Monarchs are living, which generation our NM Monarchs are, and where they're going/coming from. On many Monarch migration maps throughout the web, New Mexico isn't included, or has a question mark on our area. Additionally, when Marielle started raising monarchs in 2015, she contacted a naturalist to ask if she could ever find a monarch to raise after trying to find eggs for a few weeks and never finding them. The person said that "Taos is kind of the Monarch's fly-way", meaning Marielle wouldn't be able to raise Monarchs as they wouldn't be flying out here.
However, later, she found the Monarchs that started her Monarch hobby. Because there isn't enough information about NM Monarchs, the naturalist couldn't provide Marielle with an accurate prediction. The maps provided online and by Monarch studies and organizations, don't provide an accurate representation of the Monarchs of New Mexico, simply because there isn't enough information about our area provided for scientists to create valid claims to put on their maps.
That's why this project, sponsored by the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, was created to help scientists better understand how the monarch uses the Rio Grande area/NM, during its lifecycle and migration.
What is iNaturalist?
iNaturalist is a citizen science app, project, and online social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists. It was created with the idea of providing a place where anyone can post sightings of biodiversity, and create a map of observations from all over the world.
However, later, she found the Monarchs that started her Monarch hobby. Because there isn't enough information about NM Monarchs, the naturalist couldn't provide Marielle with an accurate prediction. The maps provided online and by Monarch studies and organizations, don't provide an accurate representation of the Monarchs of New Mexico, simply because there isn't enough information about our area provided for scientists to create valid claims to put on their maps.
That's why this project, sponsored by the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, was created to help scientists better understand how the monarch uses the Rio Grande area/NM, during its lifecycle and migration.
What is iNaturalist?
iNaturalist is a citizen science app, project, and online social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists. It was created with the idea of providing a place where anyone can post sightings of biodiversity, and create a map of observations from all over the world.
YOU CAN HELP AND GET INVOLVED
Download the iNaturalist app or visit their website: inaturalist.org to get started. Create an account and then go to the "Monarchs Along the Rio Grande in New Mexico" project. Post your Monarch sightings on this project. Everyone is invited to participate and help scientists learn about the Monarchs of New Mexico!
Header photo: Per Swatesson via Stocksy.com