Watch: Monarch butterfly soars after receiving first wing transplant
Butterfly wing transplants are often talked about within the butterfly community, but successfully performing the procedure was a different matter.
Monarch butterfly receives first wing transplant
A monarch butterfly has a new lease on life after he received the first butterfly wing transplant at a wildlife rehabilitation center in southern New York.
SMITHTOWN, N.Y. – A monarch butterfly has a new lease on life after he received the first butterfly wing transplant at a wildlife rehabilitation center.
The endangered insect was recently brought to Sweetbriar Nature Center in Smithtown, New York, with a bent wing that had partially broken off. According to Sweetbriar’s Director of Wildlife Rehabilitation Janine Bendicksen, the animal likely emerged from his chrysalis with his wing deformed.
She noted that his condition would have made taking flight virtually impossible for the butterfly, as having one broken wing throws off the symmetry necessary for him to take to the skies – and fight to survive.
"He would’ve died, 100%," Bendicksen told FOX Weather.
Attaching the donor wing onto the butterfly. (Sweetbriar Nature Center via Storyful / FOX Weather)
Sweetbriar rehabilitators considered bringing him into their vivarium, or butterfly enclosure, where he would have lived out the rest of his days feeding on flowers and Gatorade. However, Bendicksen noted, this would have helped the animal live for only about a couple of weeks, and he never would have been able to fly.
To give the butterfly a chance to live longer and take flight – and hopefully join millions of his fellow monarchs as they migrate to Mexico and southern California this fall – Bendicksen opted to give the butterfly a new wing.
Performing a wing transplant on a butterfly
Trimming off the broken part of the butterfly's wing. (Sweetbriar Nature Center via Storyful / FOX Weather)
Butterfly wing transplants are often talked about within the butterfly rehabilitation community, according to Bendicksen, but successfully performing the procedure was a different matter.
"There are all kinds of YouTube videos on how to do it," she said. "Nobody knew, though – this is the first time anybody figured it out."
The procedure first required finding a wing donor for the living butterfly. Bendicksen searched the Sweetbriar vivarium and, there, found a monarch butterfly that had passed away but still had his wings intact.
She said she then needed to anesthetize the living monarch, not because he would feel pain or bleed – as no blood flows into butterfly wings – but to ensure that he remained still during the delicate procedure.
To do this, she placed the cold-blooded insect inside a refrigerator for a few minutes to settle him down.
Bendicksen, a wildlife rehabilitator who has healed and stitched injured mammals for 25 years, then began the unprecedented procedure of "stitching" the butterfly wing.
Footage of the five-minute procedure shows her cutting off a part of the injured butterfly’s bent wing, while ensuring that the base of the wing remained fully attached to his body.
"It isn’t easy," Bendicksen said. "You could make a mistake very easily."
She carefully lines up the black veins on the injured butterfly’s wing with those on the donor wing to ensure symmetry. She then uses contact cement, an adhesive often used by artists, to glue on the donor wing. That is followed up by sprinkling corn starch on the wing to set the glue.
Sprinkling corn starch on the wing. (Sweetbriar Nature Center / FOX Weather)
Before long, she sees whether the procedure on the butterfly was a success.
"He took off in the room, and he flew to the window," she said.
"It was one of the coolest moments for me, because I really didn’t know if it would work," she added. "We then released him in the natural world, and he flew off – it was unbelievable, really."
The unique monarch butterfly migration
Naturally, the ability to fly is critical for any butterfly, but this is particularly significant for monarchs, whose populations have steadily declined since the 1960s, Monarch Watch officials said.
A cornerstone component to their survival involves migrations unique to the monarchs of North America.
In the fall, the insects across the continent fly to vital nesting grounds up to 3,000 miles away in California and Mexico, where they fill the skies with their vibrant orange and black wings.
As they return home in the spring, the females lay their eggs on milkweed plants they find along the way and, in doing so, they help rebuild the monarch butterfly population.
After his wing transplant, the monarch at Sweetbriar may partake in this significant trip with his brethren.
"This is a story of hope and new beginnings, and something teeny and beautiful that now has a chance to fulfill its destiny," Bendicksen said.
Monarchs fly to their nesting grounds by riding a cold front, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife. This allows the monarchs to travel at speeds of up to 30 mph and cover up to 80 miles per day.