It is a lepidopteran ditrisioid insect of the family Nymphalidae, superfamily Papilionoidea. It is perhaps the best known of all North American butterflies. Since the 19th century it has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia. In the Atlantic it is resident in the Canary Islands, Azores, Madeira and Andalusia, and is found as an occasional migrant in Western Europe. The subspecies D. plexippus plexippus plexippus carries out one of the most extensive and abundant insect migrations. D. plexippus plexippus is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as an endangered species as of July 20, 2022. Its wings are orange with black lines and it is easily recognizable. The autumn generation possesses great endurance and longevity of up to nine months, while other generations can live up to 24 days. Thanks to these characteristics it can travel up to 4000 kilometers from Canada and the northern United States to the oyamel forests in central Mexico and back.

Photo details: Camera: Nikon COOLPIX S2800 Image dimensions: 5152 × 3864 Horizontal and vertical resolution: 300 dpi Point F: f/4.2 Exposure time: 1/40s ISO: 80 File type: JPG File size: 4.52 MB Location: Cumaná, Venezuela