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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Ashland $97K from turf goal ... C.W. Smith will run for Senate ... Death at U.S. Cellular not considered suspicious ... Ashland $97K from turf goal ... C.W. Smith will run for Senate ... Death at U.S. Cellular not considered suspicious ... SINCE YOU ASKED Since You Asked: Monarch tags don't slow the butterflies Comment MailTribune.com Writer Posted Mar. 19, 2016 at 12:01 AM Posted Mar. 19, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Social News Just getting to your piece on monarchs Feb 12. To be sure, it is interesting to document the migratory habits of the butterfly. As a person who carries around a little excess weight, I'm interested to know the relative weights of the tag and the butterfly and whether the tag might reduce the migration distance relative to untagged butterflies. I guess the tag does not over-strengthen one wing over the other and make the butterfly fly in circles. — Don Y., email submission You're not the only one who has shown some interest in whether tagging programs for monarch butterflies are over-taxing the wings of these little creatures. We posed this ponderable to David James, a Washington State University entomology professor who has been helped by an army of Southern Oregon butterfly enthusiasts catching, tagging and releasing monarchs to document where in California they migrate. "I haven't weighed our tags, but rest assured they do not cause 'imbalance' of monarchs," James wrote in an email. "The fact that monarchs tagged in Ontario have been found alive in Mexico attests to that. Ditto our monarchs from Washington found in California. There is no evidence at all that tags affect monarch flight." But James' email didn't have any numbers to quantify the relative weights, so we at Since You Asked put the hamster in the wheel, fired up the ancient hardware we call computers here and Googled your question. We had to cyber-travel to New Zealand, where the monarch of New Zealand Trust did the weights. Turns out, the tag weighs the equivalent of 1.2 percent of the monarch's total body weight. Moreover, the tags are placed on a portion of the wing that generates lift, according to the trust. So there's a very slim chance that a tagged monarch may not fly as high as an untagged one, but it won't slow him down or shorten his journey. Send questions to “Since You Asked,” Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by email to [email protected] . To see a collection of columns, go to mailtribune.com/youasked . We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them. MailTribune.com Writer Posted Mar. 19, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... Business Name address Location, ST | website.com Find Southern Oregon Attractions Bars Restaurants Beauty Salons Entertainment Doctors Medical Specialists Contractors Education Lawn Services Lawyers Shopping Travel Tanning Used Cars Wedding Services ▼ Add your business here + Events Calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2016 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. MailTribune.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501