Honghe Butterfly Valley in Jinping county, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China’s Yunnan Province is about to revel in a butterfly boom, where a total of 150 million baby butterflies are unfolding their wings.

File photos: Xinhua

It is expected that this will be the largest butterfly boom in this region in a decade.

Yang Zhenwen, a butterfly monitor, said that the so-called butterfly boom refers to the emergence of a large number of larvae of jungle queen butterflies transforming to winged adults in a short period from May to June every year. “Butterfly booms have been found in only two places in the world, one in Mexico and the other in Jinping county,” said Yang.

Due to the high temperatures last year, the metamorphosis of the jungle queen larvae in the valley has accelerated, and the pupal stage was earlier than in 2020. The boom time this year is expected to be about 5 days earlier than previous years.

Scientists discovered in 2009 that there are over 400 butterfly species in the Honghe Butterfly Valley. The natural ecological environment and the vegetation diversity provide an ideal habitat for the reproduction of butterflies.

To better protect the butterfly resources, the local government has enhanced the protection of biodiversity, promulgating the protection management regulations to provide prime living conditions for butterflies.

(Compiled by Liao Yuecen)