Story perspectives
Monarch Butterfly Soars Again After Unique Wing Transplant
10/9/2025
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Story summary
- Janine Bendicksen, director of Sweetbriar Nature Center in Smithtown, New York, led a wing transplant on an injured monarch butterfly.
- The donor wing came from a deceased butterfly; five-minute surgery used contact cement, corn starch, and a small wire.
- Bendicksen cooled the butterfly in a refrigerator, and afterward it flew away, drawing global attention. Monarchs are known for long migrations.
