Project Monarch

Cellular Tracking Technologies

About this app

Project Monarch is an effort to leverage recent advances in tracking technology, that have enabled the development of the world’s smallest tracking devices, to track Monarch migration.

The tracking devices on the monarch butterflies transmit at the same frequency as Bluetooth which means that everyone with a smartphone is carrying around a receiver in their pocket! This revolutionary approach can potentially create the largest wildlife tracking receiver network in the world, but only if members of the public download and use the free Project Monarch app.

These data will allow scientists to track the movements of monarch butterflies in detail never previously imagined. We will see how monarchs utilize key stopping points along migratory routes and learn more about the speed and direction of migration, helping identify the most important sites for habitat conservation and restoration. Ultimately, this technology can help guide conservation planning and lead to increases in monarch populations.

Ratings and reviews

I can't get the app to open. As soon as I click Launch, it crashes. Edit: Updated app fixed the crash problem. Still need to play around with the app, but I really wish I could feed it from my iNaturalist observations since I already posted my monarch sightings there.

Updated review- App was broken, but works again. The only reason a star is docked is because the UI and design is a bit ugly. Other than that it's a fun app for my butterfly loving daughter!

Works great, the paths are very detailed! Is it getting location data from every nearby phone, or only phones that have this app installed?

What’s new

5.0.1 (18): sign-in guidance, set-password, returning-user fixes; first Android testing build of v2.