Butterfly receives life-saving wing transplant at zoo(1/3)

A zoo volunteer was able to save the life of a fragile butterfly by performing a wing transplant and intricately attaching a piece from a dead lookalike. Katie VanBlaricum, 36, spotted a Monarch butterfly with a piece of its wing missing while working at her local zoo in Kansas. She immediately decided to repair the damaged insect after fearing it would need to be put down. Armed with tape, glue and pins, Ms VanBlaricum got to work and managed to hold down the butterfly long enough to glue on a piece of wing taken from a dead butterfly. (Photo/VCG)

A zoo volunteer was able to save the life of a fragile butterfly by performing a wing transplant and intricately attaching a piece from a dead lookalike. Katie VanBlaricum, 36, spotted a Monarch butterfly with a piece of its wing missing while working at her local zoo in Kansas. She immediately decided to repair the damaged insect after fearing it would need to be put down. Armed with tape, glue and pins, Ms VanBlaricum got to work and managed to hold down the butterfly long enough to glue on a piece of wing taken from a dead butterfly. (Photo/VCG)

A zoo volunteer was able to save the life of a fragile butterfly by performing a wing transplant and intricately attaching a piece from a dead lookalike. Katie VanBlaricum, 36, spotted a Monarch butterfly with a piece of its wing missing while working at her local zoo in Kansas. She immediately decided to repair the damaged insect after fearing it would need to be put down. Armed with tape, glue and pins, Ms VanBlaricum got to work and managed to hold down the butterfly long enough to glue on a piece of wing taken from a dead butterfly. (Photo/VCG)