Lounging on the tulips, roosting in the eucalyptus, humming around the bottlebrush \u2013 a butterfly swarm has invaded a rural Australian town to the delight of locals and tourists alike.<\/p>\n
Thousands of monarch butterflies have taken over Nannup, in south-west Western Australia<\/a>, although experts warn their high numbers are evidence of the advance of invasive weeds.<\/p>\n Horticulturalist Chris Barlow said the butterflies, which have a life cycle of about six weeks once hatched, feed as larvae on one of two weeds, varieties of cotton bush and milkweed, which are prevalent in surrounding pine plantations.<\/p>\n A monarch butterfly settles on tulips at the Nannup flower and garden festival. Photograph: Angela Rasmussen\/Nannup flower and garden festival<\/p>\n \u201cThe reason why it was so good this year is because they had a very good food source,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Barlow said the species is one of few that can eat the plants, adding that the monarch\u2019s distinctive, bright orange colouring is a warning of their potential toxicity. \u201cThere\u2019s only a couple of species of birds that can actually eat the butterflies.\u201d<\/p>\n Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n But the adult butterflies are also interested in other plant species. Maggie Longmore, who runs Nannup\u2019s annual flower and garden festival in August, said they were particularly drawn to the tulips, as well as native bottlebrush and eucalyptus plants.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has been an added attraction for the festival,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s gone a bit viral on social media \u2026 People have been coming to see the butterflies and the tulips.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve lived in Nannup for 25 years. We see a few butterflies around, but this year they\u2019re in the thousands.\u201d<\/p>\n The window has also been particularly long this year \u2013 more than two months, Longmore estimates. Burana Skelton, from Mandurah to the north, was driving through Nannup with her family during the July school holidays when they started to notice the insects.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were, like, counting the butterflies as we were driving down the main street, going: \u2018Oh, there\u2019s one, two.\u2019 And we got up to 20,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we got further down towards the little local park area \u2026 it was literally covered in [them].<\/p>\n \u201cMy husband and the kids got out the car \u2026 We had all our windows down and even those dogs were looking at it.\u201d<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Breaking News Australia<\/p>\n Get the most important news as it breaks<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Monarch butterflies roost by the roadside in Nannup. Photograph: Burana Skelton<\/p>\n