Mount Hymettos

Cacyreus marshalli – Geranium bronze

Lycaenidae

Photograph by Stavros Apostolou

Geranium bronze on Prospero autumnale

It arrived in western Europe in the  1990s from S Africa and has since spread eastwards. The caterpillars feed on Pelagoniums and are a pest in gardens and on balconies where they are grown. Flies in the hottest months only.