First migrating butterflies reach winter base

The first monarch butterflies have appeared in the mountaintop forests of central Mexico where they spend the winter, Mexico’s Environment Department said yesterday. The first butterflies have been seen exploring the mountaintop reserves in th 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 for the Day of the Dead observances on November 1 and 2. Mountainside communities long associated the orange-and-black butterflies with the returning souls of the dead.