The Butterfly Evangelist

Be nice to butterflies. They've had a rough year. According to Monika Maeckle, 2012 has been the worst year ever for butterflies. Logging, genetically modified crops (presumably the crops that have been engineered to be toxic for insects), and the worst-in-history 2011 drought are blamed for their lower-than normal numbers.

Monika Maeckle works as a Butterfly Evangelist at the Texas Butterfly Ranch. I know what you want to ask. I have no idea how you get a job with a lovely title like that.

I made this photo at TEDxSanAntonio as Monica affixed a tiny sticker to the wing of this Monarch Butterfly. As Monkia explained in her TEDx talk, the Monarch Butterflies migrate from Mexico to Canada and back to Mexico -- just in time for Día de los Muertos.

Monika claims to have tagged 1,500 butterflies, presumably mostly ones passing through Texas on their big trip. Researchers pay a $5 bounty on tagged butterfiles in Mexico; I'm guessing that it isn't too easy to find the few thousand tagged butterflies in a sea of millions in Mexico. This particular butterfly gave Monika an indignant look before flying off tagged but unharmed.