Nature Center of Cape May

Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (O.e.) Infection in Monarchs Migrating through Cape May Point, NJ By Gayle Steffy, 2024 MMP Field Naturalist Ophryocystis elektroscirrha.  (O.e.) is a parasitic single celled organism known as a protozoan that infects monarch butterflies.  It is transferred from an infected adult monarch to a caterpillar by spores that…...

By Anna Haggenjos and Gayle Steffy Project Overview The Monarch Monitoring Project (MMP) was founded in 1990 by naturalist Dick Walton and Dr. Lincoln Brower. This project, under New Jersey Audubon’s Cape May Bird Observatory, seeks to better understand the fall migration of monarch butterflies through Cape May Point and…...