Mexico / Monarch butterfly / 1987 / pendant / silver / without chain

For many years, scientists have puzzled over the mysterious journey of monarch butterflies. Millions of these butterflies migrate each year from the Great Lakes in the northern United States to the highland forests of Mexico's Sierra Nevada to establish their winter quarters, traveling distances of up to 4,500 kilometers.

Lepidoptera researchers have shown that the impressive black and orange butterflies orient themselves by the position of the sun to find their long journey so unerringly each year and with each new generation. And it is also the sun that energizes them in their winter quarters. As soon as it appears, life returns to the huge swarms, while in cooler temperatures they cover the landscape like a giant veil.

The ten monarch butterflies in the pendant are connected to the frame only by tiny joints, giving the impression that the butterflies are floating weightlessly within their frames.