RockyPoint360 staff: Wendy Fregozo & Shandra Keesecker @samipenasco
Just recently we found out this week, Feb. 2nd – 8th, is being heralded as Butterfly Week on social networks (Mexico.mx) Check out this video –> Butterfly Week
Being this the case, we began to investigate across the web to see what else we could learn about this beautiful insect.
Did you know?
- Butterflies have trichromatic vision, or rather three types of color receptors and can only perceive colors in high frequency. (butterflyzone.org)
- Butterflies are very romantic and the males expel a so called “love dust”(pheromones) when attracting a mate. This seems to be right in line with the proximity of Valentine’s Day. Speaking of Valentines’ Day, Monarch butterflies are known to reproduce mostly during the months of February and March. ¡AY, AMOR!
- Butterflies taste with their feet!
- The average lifespan of smaller butterflies is only about 1 month! However, larger butterflies such as the popular Monarch that makes its way to Mexico each year can have a lifespan of up to nine months.
- Butterflies cannot fly when their body temperature is less than 86°F.
In thinking about this final point, it is understandable why the Monarch Butterfly makes its annual migration from Canada and the U.S. to Mexico – and particularly to the wondrous Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Michoacan – a distance of about 2,000 miles, before returning to the north again in the spring.
Another point that drew our attention is that in some villages in Michoacan there is the belief that each butterfly represents the soul of a deceased loved one who has come to visit. This belief is furthered by the fact the Monarchs tend to arrive in Michoacan at the end of October, coinciding with Day of the Dead.
Enjoy #butterfly week!
Additional info:
http://www.thebutterflysite.com/
http://www.monarch-butterfly.com/