Millions of monarchs are passing through Chicago during the first few weeks of September. The Lakeview Community Garden at Diversey is tagging super monarchs as they stop here on their migratory route.
Lorraine Kells nets a monarch butterfly before carefully applying a small numbered tag to its wing at the Lakeview Community Garden at Diversey on Sept. 14, 2022, in Chicago.
Now, the Lakeview Community Garden at Diversey is tagging super monarchs as they stop in Chicago as part of their migratory route.“Super monarchs are quite different from earlier season monarchs in that they’re in sexual diapause; they are not here procreating, they are simply nourishing themselves,” Lorraine Kells said. These super monarchs, which are in a nonreproductive state, are also physically larger.to make that 3,000-mile journey down to the trees of Michoacan.
After gently removing the female monarch from the net, Kolar held it carefully between her thumb and forefinger while Kells tagged the discal cell of one of its hind wings with a small sticky circle. Judith Kolar writes down information after carefully applying a small numbered tag to a monarch butterfly on Sept. 14, 2022.
The community garden where the magic happens consists of a few beds, not all of which are together. There’s a pollinator bed, which is meant to attract mainly bees and wasps — but which also attracts black swallowtail caterpillars. Judith Kolar releases a monarch butterfly after carefully applying a small numbered tag to its wing on Sept. 14, 2022.