Butler, 1898
Geranium Bronze
Description:
Originally a species from southern Africa, the Geranium Bronze became a plague in Majorca at the end of the 1980s. It had probably been imported on Pelargonium cultivars, the ordinary or garden geraniums. From there out, because of the large popularity of these plants, it colonized large parts of Spain and France, using the Pelargonium cultivars as food plant. The caterpillars mostly eat the flowers and buds of Pelargonium, but also the rest of the plants, including the inside of the main stem, where they are safe from insecticides. Finally, the plants collapse.
The expansion can be expected to continue. In South Africa, the Geranium Bronze uses wild Geranium species as food plant, making it very probable that this butterfly will establish itself in the wild in warm parts of Europe. However, in cooler areas, it would be impossible for it to settle permanently, because it has no diapause, and could not survive the winter. They have numerous generations a year, depending on the temperature.
Habitat:
Urban parks and gardens
Towns and villages
Similar species:
Tarucus theophrastus