Clepsis consimilana

Status

ADVENTIVE

PORT INTERCEPT | DOMESTIC SURVEY

Taxonomy

Clepsis consimilana (Hübner) (Tortricidae: Tortricinae: Archipini)

Common name: privet tortrix

Synonyms: cinnamomeana (Tortrix unifasciana form), fallaciana (Tortrix), fuscana (Tortrix unifascina form), obliterana (Tortrix unifasciana from), obliterana (Tortrix (Lozotaenia)), peregrinana (Pandemis), placida (Siclobola), productana (“Tortrix”), unifasciana (Tortrix).

Adult Recognition

FWL: 6.3–7.8 mm

Sexually dimorphic. Males with head, thorax, ground color of forewing pale yellow to yellow orange; median fascia and subapical blotch red orange or red brown, sharply contrasting with ground color; forewing costal fold present. Female more uniform in color, almost uniformly red orange, fasciae nearly completely obsolete. hindwing of both sexes pale brown or gray.

Male genitalia are characterized by broad uncus; minute socii; valvae small, weakly sclerotized, with large, broad, curved setae along median surface. Female genitalia are characterized by quadrate sterigma; cestum present; large, dagger-like signum with a well-developed capitulum.

Larval Morphology

The following account is summarized from Sheldon (1920)Sheldon (1920):
Sheldon, W. G. 1920. The life-cycle of Cacoecia unifasciana Duponchel. Entomologist 53: 49-52. and Swatschek (1958)Swatschek (1958):
Swatschek, B. 1958. Die larval systematik der wickler (Tortricidae und Carposinidae) aus dem zoologischen Institut der Universitat Erlangen. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin. 269 pp. [Abhandlungen zur larvalsystematik Insekten 3.].

Mature larva approximately 10 mm in length; head and anal shield light brown, transparent; prothoracic shield concolorous but with darker posterior margin; body pale green to yellow-green; pinacula concolorous, not prominent.

Pupa approximately 8 mm in length; light reddish brown initially.

Similar Species

Clepsis consimilana is superficially similar to several Nearctic species of Clepsis, but examination of the male genitalia will serve to easily separate it from all Nearctic species. No other species possess such large, curved, modified setae on the median surface of the valvae. One closely related European species, C. eatoniana (Ragonot) is very similar in both forewing pattern and genitalia, but lacks a forewing costal fold in the males in addition to more subtle differences in the genitalia (Zlatkov and Huemer 2019Zlatkov and Huemer 2019:
Zlatkov B., Huemer, P. 2019. Remarkable confusion in some Western Palearctic Clepsis leads to a revised taxonomic concept (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae). ZooKeys. 885: 51-87.).

Distribution

Clepsis consimilana is broadly distributed in Europe, western Russia, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, western Africa, Madagascar (possibly a different species), and North America (introduced) (Zlatkov and Huemer 2019Zlatkov and Huemer 2019:
Zlatkov B., Huemer, P. 2019. Remarkable confusion in some Western Palearctic Clepsis leads to a revised taxonomic concept (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae). ZooKeys. 885: 51-87.). There have been two separate introduction events in North America: one in the northeastern United States (Klots 1941Klots 1941:
Klots, A. B. 1941. Two European Tortricidae (Lepidoptera) not hitherto recorded from North America. Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society. 36: 126-127., Powell and Burns 1971Powell and Burns 1971:
Powell, J. A., Burns, J. M. 1971. Colonization of the Northeastern United States by Two Palearctic Moths (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Psyche. 78: 38-48.) and one in the Pacific Northwest (Powell 1986aPowell 1986a:
Powell, J. A. 1986a. Occurrence of the Palearctic tortricid, Clepsis consimilana (Hubner), in Oregon. Pan-Pacific Entomologist. 62(2): 165-166., Dang et al. 1996Dang et al. 1996:
Dang, P., Duncan, R., Fitzpatrick, S. 1996. Occurrence of two palearctic species of Clepsis Guenee, C. spectrana Trietschke and C. consimilana (Hubner) (Tortricidae), in British Columbia, Canada. Journal of the Lepidopterists#39; Society. 50: 321-328.).

Biology

The following account is summarized from Sheldon (1920)Sheldon (1920):
Sheldon, W. G. 1920. The life-cycle of Cacoecia unifasciana Duponchel. Entomologist 53: 49-52..

In early late July and early August, eggs are laid in small clusters of six to twelve in an overlapping fashion on the upper surface of leaves of the host plant along the midrib. Eggs hatch in one to two weeks. Larvae feed between webbed leaves and overwinter as third instars. Feeding resumes in the spring until they reach maturity and pupate in May. Adults begin to eclose in June and July, but can be found as early as May and as late as October, depending on climate (Zlatkov and Huemer 2019Zlatkov and Huemer 2019:
Zlatkov B., Huemer, P. 2019. Remarkable confusion in some Western Palearctic Clepsis leads to a revised taxonomic concept (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae). ZooKeys. 885: 51-87.).

Clepsis consimilana is a polyphagous species, having been recorded from a wide variety of plants in several different families, but the preferred host appears to be wild privet (Ligustrum vulgare). A summary of known host plants is provided in the table below.

Plant Associations

View full screen host table here

Links

Additional photos and a distribution map of this species in North America are available at Moth Photographers Group.