At Plainfield East, student Brooke Robinson, performs surgery on butterflies and saves their lives.
The Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network (IBMN) is the state program which monitors butterflies engaging in communities. Scientists then collect data on butterfly populations to track trends and inform conservation efforts.
The surgery part is mainly performed by keeping the butterfly calm, which is relatively easy, and laying a finger down on their back which doesn’t pain them at all. Then, they swap out their old wings for new ones using needles and such…