evocative gems and bite-sized culture nuggets, c’mon in and have a nosh — Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the winter home of nearly all migrating monarch butterflies in North America. From November to March, millions of fluttering orange and black wings hang in massive clusters adorning the Oyamel Sacred Fir trees high in Mexico’s central mountains. Arriving with El Día de Muertos they are honored in local lore as the souls of ancestors. When temperatures rise, these magical insects take flight in search of the only plant that sustains their lifecycle: milkweed. Upon its leaves, which will provide food for the larvae, each female will lay approximately 400 eggs and then gather nectar from the flowers to fuel her flight back north. Migratory monarch butterflies are now classified as endangered.
