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The Monarch Butterfly
Each autumn, after a 4,500 kilometer voyage, the majestic monarch butterfly arrives at its wintering grounds in Mexico . It hibernates on the borders of the states of Mexico and Michoacan, in the pine, oak, fir and mixed forests, high in the mountains. The origin of Danaus plexippus , known as the monarch butterfly, is in the American Tropics, almost 2 million years ago. Its current distribution is from Canada to northeastern Argentina.
| WWF-Mexican Forest |
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It is an insect with scaled winds in the lepidoptera order. Reproductive monarchs live 4 to 5 weeks, while the migratory ones live 6 or 7 months. Its biological cycle is characterized as holometabolic, that is one that has all of the development steps: it begins as an egg that, following incubation, hatches as a larvae; the larvae goes through five stages of development in which it increases substantially in size and weight. Next, the larvae becomes a pupae or chrysalis, which in turn metamorphoses into an adult.
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| The Monarch Butterfly Region |
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The Monarch Butterfly Program of WWF concentrates its conservation efforts on the 56,259 hectares of forest that make up the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve where the majority of hibernating colonies are found. WWF has worked for more than a decade on Monarch protection and in recent years has expanded its program considerably to address threats in an integrated way. |
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Papalotzin, or little butterfly, is an ultralight plane that accompanied the monarchs on their migratory route from Canada to Mexico in 2005. The trip followed the migratory path of the monarch from the Great Lakes, across the Appalachians, into the state of Texas . The entered Mexico at Piedras Negras, Coahuila and continued to the forests of Michoacan and Mexico State .
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| The Monarch Fund |
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The Monarch Butterfly Conservation Fund is a new approach to creating economic incentives for people who own land in the core zone of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. There are 31 properties located in the core zone of the Reserve that are participating with the Fund. The Fund supports the conservation of 9,089 hectares , or 68% of the core zone.
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| The Monarch Forum |
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The Monarch Butterfly Regional Forum, established in March of 2004, is a cross-sectoral coordination initiative that combines forces of the Mexican federal government (SEMARNAT , PROFEPA, CONANP), the state governments of Mexico and Michoacan, and other sectors interested in the monarch butterfly. The forum is a platform for increasing effectiveness of conservation and development activities, and for stimulating investment in the region
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