Geranium Bronze Butterfly

Cacyreus marshalli

The Geranium Bronze butterfly has a distinctive brown and white patterned underside and a bronze topside, both with "eyespot" and a "tail". It is native to South Africa and larvae feed on geraniums and pelargoniums. It is now established in Southern Europe and North Africa from imported geraniums and considered a pest species. These photos were taken in Rome, Italy and Tenerife but there have been recent records of small colonies in the UK although it can't survive the UK winter outside.