I Went To The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve In Mexico, And Here Are 23 Pictures I Took

My name is Kristina Makeeva @hobopeeba. I am a photographer and traveler, and my main task is to show people every day that the world is full of wonders. Often, people forget how beautiful it is and fall into apathy, but once you learn to see it, life will immediately become much more colorful and happier. Magic is in the simple things.

We arrived in Mexico just to watch the migration of Danaida Monarch butterflies. I had kept this place in mind for a long time, and it was one of my goals - to see it with my own eyes and show it to my followers. Of course, we saw the beautiful nature of Yucatan and the capital of Mexico as well before we flew to the mountains where the butterflies live, but the main goal was to come here.

The main difficulty when photographing butterflies is that they are often high up in the trees and to capture them, you need a long lens (from 200mm). Also, on a cloudy day, butterflies do not fly, and sit with their wings folded on the trees, and if you come on one of these days, you will be very disappointed. Monarchs need the sun to warm up and start fluttering.

I have 4 favorite photographic projects in my life - these are about girls around the world in flying dresses, about Lake Baikal, about an African princess, and about my royal cat Cutlet. Moreover, each of these projects was greatly liked by my viewers too. If you want, you can easily find these designs here on Bored Panda.

I am always very grateful when you leave me feedback about my work, whatever it may be. That gives me the strength to do new magical things for you.

I do not recommend visiting the reserve on days without sun - at this time, butterflies sit on branches and are motionless on each other. They need to warm up to fly. Many tourists leave disappointed if they come in cloudy weather.

In the spring, after the butterflies wake up, they produce offspring. The stages of caterpillar and pupa last about two weeks, then adult butterflies - descendants of insects migrating in autumn - return to their habitats. On the way, the butterflies lay their eggs and then die, and the flight is continued by their children, who also breed during the migration. Great- and great-great-grandchildren of butterflies that flew away to warmer climes in autumn return to their homeland. The second, third, and fourth generations of insects return to the northern regions of the United States and Canada.

The danaid monarch is one of the few insects capable of making flights across the Atlantic Ocean.

The most numerous populations are found in North America. This species is found in Africa, Australia, and in some European countries such as Sweden and Spain. Monarchs can be found in the extreme southwest of Great Britain, on Lake Bennington, in Walla Walla, Washington, the Far East, New Zealand, North Africa, and the Hawaiian Islands. Settled danaid monarchs live in Bermuda, Florida, Arizona, and the Caribbean region, as there is a mild climate all year round.

It is often asked why such a cluster of monarchs are not eaten by birds. The milkwort, preferred by caterpillars, is poisonous and disgusting in taste to birds. There are a lot of cardenolides in the juice of the milkweed - substances that are not only unpleasant for bird taste but also cause nausea in small concentrations, while a large dose can cause a heart attack.

The poison obtained from the leaves of the plant is stored in the body not only in caterpillars (the fact that the caterpillars are poisonous is evidenced by their bright color), but also in butterflies, being distributed throughout the body. Therefore, butterfly colonies that are in suspended animation survive, as birds prefer to feed on less poisonous insects.