Clepsis consimilana

• Subfamily: Tortricinae, Archipini
• Wingspan: 18-24 mm
• Flight period: May - Aug
• Spread: Common
• Host plants: Polyphagous

Information

The Clepsis consimilana also called Privet Tortrix is a moth of the Tortricidae family, Tortricinae subfamily, with wingspan of about 13-17 mm in the male and 15-19 mm in the female.
Distributed in most of Europe, it's absent from Croatia, the Baltic countries, Ukraine, Finland and Norway. *
Its range extends to Asia Minor, Syria with some surveys in North Africa. *
In Italy it is absent from the islands. *

The Clepsis consimilana has sexual dimorphism given both by the size of the female slightly larger, than above all by the coloring of the front wings.
In both sexes the background color is yellow-brown, sometimes in the female it tends to reddish, in the male there are, on the back, some brown markings and, often indistinct, two small shaded spots. The signs of the front wings of the male can vary in intensity. **, ***

In the females these markings are barely mentioned or completely absent, it is more slender, with the less arched costa and more pointed apex.
The hind wings are brownish gray, darker towards the apex and strongly fringed. **, ***

This species has two or three generations a year it has flickers in Europe from May to October. In North Africa some specimens were collected in March and November.

The eggs are laid in small batches of 6-12 eggs on the upper surface of the leaves along the midrib. They hatch after approx. 12 days.
It overwinters in the third larval stage, hibernating in the leaves of the food plant. ***
The larvae are visible from August to May.

The larva of Clepsis consimilana has a purplish green or purplish gray color, with light brown markings. The head, thoracic plate and legs are brown; the pupa is light brown. ***

The larvae are occasional parasites of Prunus sp. (plum), and can also be found on Malus sp. (apple tree), Carpinus (hornbeam), Crataegus (hawthorn), Hedera (ivy), Ligustrum (privet), Syringa (lilac), Taxus and Polygonum.


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** Bestimmungshilfe für die in Europa nachgewiesenen Schmetterlingsarten - http://lepiforum.de/
*** Eurasian Tortricidae 2.0 - https://eurasian-tortricidae.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/