Native
Exotic, but established
Clepsis Guenée (Tortricidae: Tortricinae: Archipini)
The genus Clepsis contains approximately 175 described species that are distributed throughout the Holarctic, Oriental, and Neotropical regions. The genus, as currently circumscribed, is polyphyletic.
Forewing patterns vary within the genus, but many species are brown and marked with a well-defined median fasciafascia:
a dark transverse band on the forewing
and dark costal spotcostal spot:
a patch of contrasting scales on the costa, usually a remnant of the postmedian or preterminal fascia 
. Male genitalia are characterized by a spatulatespatulate:
spoonlike, narrow basally and enlarged and rounded apically
uncus, an incomplete transtilla divided into two spined lobes (labides), and valvae that may be membranous at the apexapex:
the point furthest removed from the base or at the end of the costal area 
or have a membranous apical lobe. Female genitalia are characterized by a cestumcestum:
a long, bandlike sclerotization of the wall of the ductus bursae
in the ductus bursaeductus bursae:
a membranous tube connecting the ostium bursae to the corpus bursae
and a signumsignum:
a sclerotized projection or patch on the interior of the corpus bursae
in the corpus bursaecorpus bursae:
a dilated membranous sac at the anterior end of the bursa copulatrix
may be present or absent.
Species of economic importance include the Palearctic C. spectrana. In Europe, larvae of this species cause considerable damage to flowing and ornamental plants in greenhouses. The other seven species treated here are common native or exotic, but established species likely to encountered during domestic tortricid surveys. Clepsis peritana is one of the most commonly collected tortricids in the U.S.; it is similar to a number of other Clepsis species, but most can be separated by a combination of male and female morphological characters.
For photos of additional non-targets not covered here, visit the Moth Photographers Group link below.
It is difficult to distinguish between different species of Clepsis using larval morphology. As such, most Clepsis larvae intercepted at U.S. ports of entry are not identified beyond the subfamily or genus level. One exception is larvae of C. spectrana, which are commonly intercepted at U.S. ports of entry on peppers (Capsicum) and cut flowers arriving from the Netherlands.
Exotic, but established
Clepsis spectrana
Native species
Clepsis clemensiana
Clepsis fucana
Clepsis melaleucanus
Clepsis peritana
Clepsis persicana
View full screen host table here
Additional photos and distribution maps for species in the United States and Canada are available at Moth Photographers Group.
