Geranium Bronze (Cacyreus marshalli)
2024 photographs highlighted in yellow. Click on any photograph to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.
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| 19544_female_Var_24Sep09 | 40270_female_Var_24Apr16 | 50562_female_Var_6Sep22 | 50543_female_Var_6Sep22 |
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| 46061_female_Var_22Jun19 | 46073_female_Var_22Jun19 | 40274_female_Var_24Apr16 | 40733_female_Var_8Jun16 |
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| 19539_female_Var_24Sep09 | 20252_female_Var_24May10 |
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This relatively recent accidental import from South Africa, originally as eggs on imported Pelargoniums (Geraniums), has extensively colonised the south coast of France and is now quite common, spreading its range northwards, either by natural expansion or courtesy of global warming, and has reached Lyon in central France. I also heard in 2019 that marshalli had reached Versailles on the outskirts of Paris. Whether this is indicative of even greater natural migration northward or whether it had been transported as eggs on Geraniums is not clear.
It is usually to be seen on Geraniums and can be seen in good numbers on hanging baskets in towns, although it is quite small and does not move very much, so can easily be missed. |
The underside also adds to the camouflage, and the pattern makes photographs appear to be out of focus. The female is larger, but other than that the sexes are almost identical, as the male also has a completely brown upperside. All of these photographs are of females in the process of egg-laying on cultivated Geraniums, to which they often seem glued, staying put for hours on end, on both the leaves and the flowers. |
| ref | sex |
observations |
alt. m |
| 19544 | F |
a typical female upperside, on potted Geraniums on which it was egg-laying. |
60 |
| 40270 | F | there aren't may opportunities to get an upperside shot as females on Geraniums are usually preoccupied with egg-laying and only rest with open wings occasionally, hence this shot of a rather worn individual. | 60 |
| 50562 | F | a female, showing the rich dark brown tones of a fresh specimen. 50543 is the underside. | 60 |
| 50543 | F | a female, the underside of 50562, taking a short break from egg-laying on our Geraniums. | 60 |
| 46061 | F | a female, reasonably fresh as can be seen from the intact fringes. | 60 |
| 46073 | F | a female in the act of ovipositing (egg-laying). | 60 |
| 40274 | F | this female is actually in the act of egg-laying even though the end of the abdomen is obscured by the leaf. | 60 |
| 40733 | F | the same female as in 40724. | 60 |
| 19539 | F |
the underside of 19544. |
60 |
| 20252 | F |
a female, which had just been egg-laying on this Geranium. |
60 |
