Help Track Butterflies with Your iPhone in Cape May County, Here’s How to Receive Their Signals

Cellular Tracking Technologies, wildlife tracking device company based at Cape May Airport, has developed a groundbreaking tracking device for butterflies. In partnership with Cape May Point Science Center, several Monarch butterfies around the point have already been equipped with the world’s smallest tracking device. There is more to come, with an event for the public scheduled for Thursday, September 21 at Cape May Point Science Center at 12 noon.

The solar powered tracking device weighs as much as a grain of rice and doesn’t imped the flight of the butterfly. It also features no battery, allowing the tracker to last indefinitely, as long as any sort of ambient light is available — which seems to be a daily occurrence on our planet.

Scientists over the past week began attaching the device to several Monarchs. And starting today, the general public is welcome to help track them around Cape May Point and beyond. If the app detects a tagged butterfly, the location of the detection and name of the tag is uploaded to a server. The app also displays the tracks of currently tagged butterflies, lets you know if one is near by, a map of butterflies, and even has a leaderboard for those butterfly fans with a competitive inclination. The tiny little tag works similar to an AirTag or Tile, but you do need the mobile app to help!

The app is available on the Apple App Store as “Project Monarch Science” and can be downloaded here. For Android fans, fear not, as an Android version entitled “Project Monarch” is currently on the Google Play Store. A website (desktop/laptop only) is now available at https://monarch.science/

Below is a screenshot of the App, tracking a Monarch named “Bob”.