Lake Xochimilco was one of four lakes in the Valley of Mexico during the time of the Aztecs. These lakes were the sites of an agricultural style known as Chinampas. The Aztecs would pile alternate layers of mud and marsh plants onto large floating rafts, merging them with the seabed to create fertile islands.
- - - - -
Danaus plexippus - The monarch butterfly is a milkweed butterfly native to North America. They use the milkweed plant as a food source during the larvae stage. Each fall the monarch migrates along various routes in a quest for warmer habitats. The monarch butterfly, through multi-generational migration paths, travels between Ontario, Canada and the mountains of Central Mexico. Monarchs butterflies are aposematic, an organism with the ability to use warning coloration to ward off potential predators.
