Exotic, but established
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).
FWLFWL:
forewing length; the distance from the base of the forewing to the apex, including fringe
: 6.3-7.8 mm
Sexually dimorphic. Males with head, thorax, ground color of forewing pale yellow to yellow-orange; median fasciafascia:
a dark transverse band on the forewing
and subapical blotch red-orange or red-brown, sharply contrasting with ground color; forewing costal foldforewing costal fold:
a flap or fold at the base of the forewing that contains specialized sex scales
present. Female more uniform in color, almost uniformly red-orange, fasciaefascia:
a dark transverse band on the forewing nearly completely obsolete. hindwing of both sexes pale brown or gray.
Male genitalia are characterized by broad uncusuncus:
a sclerotized process which is fused to the posterodorsal margin of tergum IX
; minute sociisocii:
a pair of lightly sclerotized setose lobes
; valvaevalva:
an appendage flanking the intromittent organ that is used to clasp the female during copulation
small, weakly sclerotizedsclerotized:
hardened; usually in reference to larval structures or adult genitalia 
, with large, broad, curved setae along median surface. Female genitalia are characterized by quadrate sterigmasterigma:
the sclerotized region surrounding the female ostium bursae 
; cestumcestum:
a long, bandlike sclerotization of the wall of the ductus bursae
present; large, dagger-like signumsignum:
a sclerotized projection or patch on the interior of the corpus bursae
with a well-developed capitulumcapitulum:
in reference to the female signum; a knoblike projection 
.
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 shieldanal shield:
a sclerotized plate on the dorsal surface of the last abdominal segment (in larvae) 
light brown, transparent; prothoracic shieldprothoracic shield:
a sclerotized plate on the dorsal surface of the prothorax 
concolorous but with darker posteriorposterior:
after, to the rear, toward anal end 
margin; body pale green to yellow-green; pinaculapinaculum:
flattened sclerotized plates on a caterpillar that bear the setae
concolorous, not prominent.
Pupa approximately 8 mm in length; light reddish-brown initially.
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 valvaevalva:
an appendage flanking the intromittent organ that is used to clasp the female during copulation. One closely related European species, C. eatoniana (Ragonot) is very similar in both forewing pattern and genitalia, but lacks a forewing costal foldforewing costal fold:
a flap or fold at the base of the forewing that contains specialized sex scales in the males in addition to more subtle differences in the genitalia (Zlatkov & Huemer 2019).
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 & Huemer 2019).
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.
| Host plant | Host plant family | Reference(s) |
| Hedera helix | Araliaceae | Bradley et al. 1973Bradley et al. 1973: Bradley, J. D., Tremewan, W. G., Smith, A. 1973. British Tortricoid Moths, Cochylidae and Tortricidae: Tortricinae. The Ray Society, London. 251 pp. |
| Carpinus betulus | Betulaceae | Bradley et al. 1973Bradley et al. 1973: Bradley, J. D., Tremewan, W. G., Smith, A. 1973. British Tortricoid Moths, Cochylidae and Tortricidae: Tortricinae. The Ray Society, London. 251 pp. |
| Lonicera periclymenum | Caprifoliaceae | Bradley et al. 1973Bradley et al. 1973: Bradley, J. D., Tremewan, W. G., Smith, A. 1973. British Tortricoid Moths, Cochylidae and Tortricidae: Tortricinae. The Ray Society, London. 251 pp. |
| Ligustrum vulgare | Oleaceae | Trematerra & Baldizzone 2004 |
| Ligustrum sp. | Oleaceae | Meyrick MS 1938Meyrick MS 1938: Meyrick MS 1938. Unpublished manuscript by E. Meyrick at BMNH, data captured by Gaeden Robinson.; Bradley et al. 1973Bradley et al. 1973: Bradley, J. D., Tremewan, W. G., Smith, A. 1973. British Tortricoid Moths, Cochylidae and Tortricidae: Tortricinae. The Ray Society, London. 251 pp.; Emmet 1992Emmet 1992: Emmet, A.M. 1992. Life history and habits of the British Lepidoptera. Pp. 61-300. In : Emmet, A.M., Heath, J. (eds.), The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland, 7. 400 pp., Harley Books, Colchester. |
| Syringa sp. | Oleaceae | Bradley et al. 1973Bradley et al. 1973: Bradley, J. D., Tremewan, W. G., Smith, A. 1973. British Tortricoid Moths, Cochylidae and Tortricidae: Tortricinae. The Ray Society, London. 251 pp. |
| Polygonum sp. | Polygonaceae | Bradley et al. 1973Bradley et al. 1973: Bradley, J. D., Tremewan, W. G., Smith, A. 1973. British Tortricoid Moths, Cochylidae and Tortricidae: Tortricinae. The Ray Society, London. 251 pp. |
| Cotoneaster horizontalis | Rosaceae | Trematerra & Baldizzone 2004 |
| Crataegus sp. | Rosaceae | Bradley et al. 1973Bradley et al. 1973: Bradley, J. D., Tremewan, W. G., Smith, A. 1973. British Tortricoid Moths, Cochylidae and Tortricidae: Tortricinae. The Ray Society, London. 251 pp. |
| Malus sylvestris | Rosaceae | Bradley et al. 1973Bradley et al. 1973: Bradley, J. D., Tremewan, W. G., Smith, A. 1973. British Tortricoid Moths, Cochylidae and Tortricidae: Tortricinae. The Ray Society, London. 251 pp. |
| Ulmus sp. | Ulmaceae | Trematerra & Baldizzone 2004 |
View full screen host table here
Clepsis consimilana is broadly distributed in Europe, western Russia, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, western Africa, Madagascar (possibly a different species), and North America (introduced) (Zlatkov & Huemer 2019). 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 & Burns 1971) 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.).
