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Cacyreus marshalli
It is brown with a fine black edge interlaced with white and a very thin tail. The underside is grey-brown with dark bands. The wingspan is 15–23 mm for males and 18–27 mm for females.
Adults are on wing year round in warmer areas, but usually from August to May in South Africa. At higher altitudes adults are on wing in December and January. Feeds on cultivated pelargonium geraniums.
That is a problem, unfortunately. Luckily in the garden where I spotted this, there were no geraniums, otherwise I would have been unhappy too!
In spite this girls are beautiful, I don't like them because their larvae destroyed my geraniums last spring :P
I have very little knowledge with body structure but I am starting to learn from everyone here, which is what it's all about!
I was guessing with wing structure, Was not sure to post suggestion...!!
I learn to understand body structure from Dan, Juan, Jonathan here only at Project Noah..!!
Kirsten is also an Expert and I feel she had good experience in Biological study. Her suggestions are almost accurate.
Wow..Kristen you got perfect... My guess was so close with Lycaenidae Family..!!
The checkered white fringe, brown coloration and the black spots on the hind-wing make me fairly confident that this is a Geranium Bronze. They are a South African species that was accidentally introduced to Europe and has become pretty well established in the Mediterranean with a noted population near Barcelona. They likely hitched a ride on imported geraniums (Pelargonium) from South Africa in the 1990's. The larva burrow in the stems of the geranium.
Spotted on Aug 2, 2011
Submitted on Aug 2, 2011
