Geranium Bronze

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Geranium Bronze

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Papilionoidea
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Cacyreus
Species: C. marshalli
Binomial name
Cacyreus marshalli
(Butler, 1897)

The Geranium Bronze (Cacyreus marshalli) is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae.

Brown with fine black edge interlaced with white. Very thin tail. Underside:grey brown with dark bands. Caterpillar feeds on cultivated geraniums.

The species is native of South Africa (maybe even Southern Africa). It has, however, been introduced (whether deliberately or accidentally the author does not know) to Mediterranean Europe (initially the Balaeric Islands), where is has spread as a pest of cultivated geranium (Pelargonium, which also originate in South Africa). It was first recorded in the UK in Sussex in 1997 (also on geranium), and has been recorded several times since. In the UK, all sightings should be reported to DEFRA.

French: "Brun des pélargoniums"