New Tech Helps Track Monarch Butterfly Migration Paths

WSU professor partners with nonprofit to tag 100 monarchs with high-tech trackers to better understand their mysterious migration routes.

Apr. 7, 2026 at 12:56am

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A bold, abstract painting in muted greens, browns, and blues, featuring sweeping geometric shapes, concentric circles, and precise botanical spirals, conceptually representing the complex migratory patterns of monarch butterflies.New high-tech tracking tags provide unprecedented insights into the mysterious migratory patterns of monarch butterflies, enabling conservation efforts to protect critical corridors.Pullman Today

Entomology professor David James at Washington State University is working with the nonprofit Wings Rising on the Adopt-a-Monarch project, which aims to place new high-tech tags on at least 100 monarch butterflies before they leave Idaho in late summer for their southern destinations. The new tags can transmit each butterfly's location along the migration route, providing much more detailed data than previous tagging methods.

Why it matters

Tracking the monarchs' migration paths could help solve a long-standing mystery about where Idaho's monarchs go when they migrate south. This information could also aid conservation efforts by identifying key corridors where milkweed and nectar sources can be planted to support the butterflies along their journeys.

The details

The new tags, which cost $200 each, are essentially tiny solar-powered cells with antennae that attach to a monarch's thorax. They can transmit the butterflies' locations during daylight hours when the monarchs are actively moving, providing much more reliable data than the simple paper tags used in the past. Early results show over 40% of monarchs tagged with the new trackers are still alive after six months, a major improvement over the previous recovery rate of about 1 in 200 tags.

  • The Adopt-a-Monarch project aims to tag at least 100 monarchs before they leave Idaho in late summer.
  • Since 2012, James has worked with groups to tag over 31,000 monarchs in Washington and Oregon, with only 219 recovered, mostly in California.
  • Of the 11,000 monarchs tagged and released in Idaho, only 12 were recovered, most within 100 miles of their release points.

The players

David James

An entomology professor at Washington State University and longtime monarch scientist and enthusiast who is leading the Adopt-a-Monarch project.

Wings Rising

A nonprofit organization that is partnering with James on the Adopt-a-Monarch project to tag monarchs with high-tech trackers.

Raj Khosla

The Cashup Davis Family Endowed Dean of WSU's College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences, who is excited about the new monarch tracking technology.

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What they’re saying

“In the past, we tagged thousands of monarchs. For every 200 tags, we'd average about one recovery. Based on early results from the East Coast, all of them can be tracked and over 40% of the monarchs are still alive after six months with the new tags.”

— David James, Professor

“I'm excited to see this new technology in action. We need WSU scientists solving mysteries and helping important species like monarch butterflies not only survive but thrive in their environment. I applaud their efforts to engage community in advancing science.”

— Raj Khosla, Cashup Davis Family Endowed Dean, WSU College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences

What’s next

James and his colleagues are seeking donations to help pay for the high-tech monarch tracking tags, which cost $200 each. When people donate, they can adopt a specific butterfly and track its journey in real-time.

The takeaway

This new monarch tracking technology has the potential to finally solve the long-standing mystery of where Idaho's monarchs migrate to, which could lead to more targeted conservation efforts to protect the iconic butterfly species.