Teatown Campers Collect Monarch Parasite Data for Citizen Science Project

Project Monarch Health monitors a protozoan parasite called Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (OE) in monarch butterflies. While this parasite does not affect humans, effects on adult monarchs can be severe. Some grow and appear as normal monarchs do, but don’t weigh as much or fly as well. Some die in the chrysalis, while in other cases they emerge as deformed monarchs that cannot survive long.

Project Monarch Health’s website, monarchparasites.org explains the process of collecting monarch data: “To check for OE in monarchs, citizen scientists first obtain wild adult monarchs by either catching them or rearing caterpillars until they become adults. Second, citizen scientists press a clear sticker against each monarch’s abdomen to collect any parasites. The monarchs are then released, totally unharmed. Finally, citizen scientists send samples to our lab at The University of Georgia, where we count OE parasites using a microscope. We share these results with volunteers and later report the data online or in published scientific articles.”