Geranium Bronze

[Chris Jackson]

Hi Folks.
As far as I know Geranium Bronze, Cacyreus marshalli, has not yet reached UK shores.
Until it does, here is a little life cycle I've knocked up for you in photo form. Its easy to do this in France when you have geraniums in your garden.
My neighbours consider it a pest on their geraniums, but I encourage it in my garden.

Unders

and uppers

an egg on a geranium flower bud

two cats 12 mm long not far off pupation

a hairy pupa with its silk girdle

a darkened pupa 12 hours before emergence

emergence the next morning at 8 am, in the space of a minute, with the empty pupa (.. yep, missed it again ..)

Chris

[Vince Massimo]

Nice work, Chris
I have added some of the images to the Species Album.

Vince

[Pauline]

What a smashing little butterfly - I'd welcome it onto my geraniums any day of the week

[essexbuzzard]

Me too. A pest? Rubbish. Even in the Med, I’ve only ever seen it on ivy-leaf geraniums and even there , damage is hard to find.

A lovely set of images once again, Chris! Thanks for sharing.

[Padfield]

DEFRA used to have a hate-page dedicated to this species but I'm glad to see it has been archived and the present risk to the UK is deemed 'low'.

Obviously, there never was a risk. It is a fascinating and very welcome species so far as I'm concerned. Nothing worse than barren, ornamental plants that don't support any native insects - I love to see a few eaten leaves. Every time I go to Notcutts, the garden centre, I have a peep at the pelargoniums. If I spotted any with eggs or larvae I would buy them on the spot but sadly I never do.

Great shots of the early stages, Chris. You've inspired me to go back to Notcutts.

Guy

[Allan.W.]

A local ,here in Kent had a Geranium Bronze in his garden on consecutive days last year , I believe he took it down to Dungeness Bird OBS; ,so that a few locals could see it (alas not me !) ,and I think that individual was reported to DEFRA, but I,m unsure of the outcome. they also had a couple of Asian Hornets ,which (understandably ) were of definite interest to DEFRA ,where they duly were sent !
Allan.W.

[Janet Turnbull]

An attractive little butterfly - I'd certainly welcome it in my garden but I guess it will be a while before it gets north of Watford Gap. Great set of photos, Chris!
Janet

[Mark Tutton]

These are a lovely little butterfly. I found a small colony on these potted shrubs, unsure of the species, in central Barcelona last year. in my opinion they would be a welcome addition to the British list.
Kind Regards
Mark

[Medard]

My first encounter with the Geranium Bronze (Cacyreus marshalli) in the grounds of the Abbaye de Maillezais - Vendee
https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com

[David M]

As far as I know Geranium Bronze, Cacyreus marshalli, has not yet reached UK shores....

It has, Chris, several times, presumably in imported pelargoniums as early stages.

Of course, it won't survive British winters so it will never establish itself here but it seems quite at home round the Med, helped no doubt by the French propensity to fill their hanging baskets with plants of various geranium varieties!

[essexbuzzard]

The only place it could maybe just survive is in the gardens on the Isles of Scilly and, perhaps, in Morrab Gardens in Penzance. Both these places are frost-free in most years. The Scilly Isles receive around 1750 hours of sunshine per year, making them among the sunniest places in the UK as well.

Even then, it would take an extensive campaign of ivy-leaf geranium planting, and then to introduce the species as a trial over successive seasons. As far as I know, there is no willingness to do this. If I lived there, however, I would definitely be considering it.

[Devon Dave]

Hi Chris,
thank you for a most interesting Post.
I live in Devon and one was seen here a couple of years ago, probably an import on a geranium plant. But I was lucky enough to see my first one in Seville this February ! I was not expecting to see Butterflies there so early in the year but it was a warm week. Walking along the river I noticed a bank which was covered in Geraniums in flower with a small Butterfly fliting amongst them. On closer examination and to my surprise it was a lovely fresh Geranium Bronze. The first I have ever seen ,but I hope it is not last !
Dave.

[Chris Jackson]

Thank you all for your comments and input. Clearly this species generates a certain interest.
Its all very encouraging for the Geranium Bronze, and "au diable" to spray-happy neighbours with geraniums who are discontent.

This morning I went through the emergence process again with another pupa and waited for 4 hours.
Finally at 11.20 am, once again, in the blink of an eye, whilst I was distracted for 30 seconds, the adult emerged:

It went from this:

to this:

quicker than expected.
I'll have a job renewing the experience and getting it past my wife again (a whole morning devoted to emergence). Time to move on.
Chris