Monarch butterflies return to Mexico on annual migration

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The first monarch butterflies have appeared in the mountaintop forests of central Mexico where they spend the winter. Mexico’s Environment Department said Saturday that the first butterflies have been seen exploring the mountaintop reserves in the states of Mexico and Michoacan, apparently trying to decide where to settle this year. The monarchs have shown up a few days late this year. Normally they arrive in Mexico for the Day of the Dead observances on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2. Mountainside communities long believed the orange-and-black butterflies represented the returning souls of the dead.