Lycaenidae : Polyommatinae
Geranium Bronze
CACYREUS marshalli (Butler, 1897)
Geranium Bronze
CACYREUS marshalli (Butler, 1897)
Description
Wingspan: Male-15-22mm : Female-18-27mm
Worldwide Distribution: S.Africa : Spain : S.France : Portugal : Canary Isles : Morocco : Malta
UK Distribution: Europe - including Balearic Is.,Canary Is.,French mainland,Germany,Monaco & Spain - re "Fauna Europaea" with sightings in (Portuguese Algave 2004,2006 & 2008- Greek southern Islands of Syros,Mykonos & Skopelos - 2016 - Malta 2007 - Crete - 2016 ) - Read Below
European Conservation Status -
Flight Period: Europe-Possibly overlapping broods throughout the season
Habitat: Hedges : Garden & Hotel Borders : Where cultivated pelargoniums and geraniums can be found in S.Europe
Larva: The larva most eat the flowers and buds of Pelargonium but will also eat any part of the plant including the inside of the stem which causes the plant to collapse.
Overwinters as: Butterfly has no diapause and as such can only survive in warm climates, like those encountered throughout the Mediterranean
Observations: Being a native of South Africa this butterfly has had a recent chequered history when it was first recorded in europe in 1990 on the Spanish Isle of Majorca,possibly accidentally imported with pelargoniums, whilst the butterfly was in it's early stages. Since then it has reached pest proportions in all the Balearic Islands before moving into Spain(Logrono 1992-Northern Spain),France and Portugal & has also been recorded in Brussels(1991),Rome(1996) and finally making it to the British Isles in Sussex.(1997)
It must now considered to be established in S.Europe and all the photos below were taken on the Portuguese Algarve at Alvor where I saw them in 2004,2006 & 2008 and today (7/10/16) an email confirms they were recorded on the southern Greek islands of Syros,Mykonos & Skopelos this summer/Autumn almost certainly adding Greece to this butterflies expansion.Thank you Chris for the information.
Clearly it will be impossible to halt the spread of the beautiful little butterfly especially along Southern Europe where both the temperatures and constant supply of larval food plants seem ideal.
The upper side is brown with long hindwing tails and an adjacent spot which protects the butterfly body from attacks by birds.
The underside has beautiful white mottling which adds the charm of this horticultural pest.
The butterfly can be found during the day resting on old Pelagonium flower stems, as seen in the photos below.
Worldwide Distribution: S.Africa : Spain : S.France : Portugal : Canary Isles : Morocco : Malta
UK Distribution: Europe - including Balearic Is.,Canary Is.,French mainland,Germany,Monaco & Spain - re "Fauna Europaea" with sightings in (Portuguese Algave 2004,2006 & 2008- Greek southern Islands of Syros,Mykonos & Skopelos - 2016 - Malta 2007 - Crete - 2016 ) - Read Below
European Conservation Status -
- Least Concern
- Cacyreus marshalli Butler 1898
- Papilio lingius Stoll, 1782
- South Africa-Natal, Estcourt
Flight Period: Europe-Possibly overlapping broods throughout the season
Habitat: Hedges : Garden & Hotel Borders : Where cultivated pelargoniums and geraniums can be found in S.Europe
Larva: The larva most eat the flowers and buds of Pelargonium but will also eat any part of the plant including the inside of the stem which causes the plant to collapse.
Overwinters as: Butterfly has no diapause and as such can only survive in warm climates, like those encountered throughout the Mediterranean
Observations: Being a native of South Africa this butterfly has had a recent chequered history when it was first recorded in europe in 1990 on the Spanish Isle of Majorca,possibly accidentally imported with pelargoniums, whilst the butterfly was in it's early stages. Since then it has reached pest proportions in all the Balearic Islands before moving into Spain(Logrono 1992-Northern Spain),France and Portugal & has also been recorded in Brussels(1991),Rome(1996) and finally making it to the British Isles in Sussex.(1997)
It must now considered to be established in S.Europe and all the photos below were taken on the Portuguese Algarve at Alvor where I saw them in 2004,2006 & 2008 and today (7/10/16) an email confirms they were recorded on the southern Greek islands of Syros,Mykonos & Skopelos this summer/Autumn almost certainly adding Greece to this butterflies expansion.Thank you Chris for the information.
Clearly it will be impossible to halt the spread of the beautiful little butterfly especially along Southern Europe where both the temperatures and constant supply of larval food plants seem ideal.
The upper side is brown with long hindwing tails and an adjacent spot which protects the butterfly body from attacks by birds.
The underside has beautiful white mottling which adds the charm of this horticultural pest.
The butterfly can be found during the day resting on old Pelagonium flower stems, as seen in the photos below.
Photo Gallery
Larval Food Plants Worldwide
Note - Plants hyperlinked in red below take the visitor to the relevant plant page on"Plants for a Future" website
where further information like photos,physical
characteristics,habitats,edible uses,medicinal
uses,cultivation,propagation,range,height etc. are clearly listed.
- Plant Families - in bold red below takes the visitor to the relevant "Lepi-plants" page where other butterflies & moths using the plants below are listed.
- Geraniaceae - Geranium - Cranebills Family
- Geranium pratense - Meadow Crane'sbill
- Geranium pyrenaicum - Hedgerow Crane'sbill
- Geranium robertianum - Herb Robert
- Geranium sylvaticum - Wood Crane's-bill
- Ulmaceae - Elm Family
- Ulmus americana - American Elm
- Note - Larvae also feed on the following plant families
- Geraniaceae - Pelargonium - Geraniums & Storkbills
- Note - Larvae also feed on the following plant families
- Ulmus americana - American Elm
Larval Food Plants
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Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
Subkingdom: Phylum: Subphylum Class: Order: Superfamily: Family: Subfamily Tribe: Genus: Accepted Species Name: Original Species Name: Literary Ref: Type Locality: |
Animalia
Eumetozoa Arthropoda Hexapoda Insecta Lepidoptera Papilionoidea Lycaenidae Polyommatinae Polyommatini CACYREUS (Butler, 1898) Cacyreus marshalli (Butler, 1897) - CACYREUS marshalli (Butler 1897) - Proceedings of the General Meetings for Scientific Business of the Zoological Society of London 1897: 835-857, Pl. L [= 50] : Title Page : p.845 : n.63 - South Africa-Natal, Estcourt |