Species Clepsis persicana - White Triangle Tortrix - Hodges#3682

3682

Green Needleworm (larva)

Clepsis persicana (Fitch, 1856)

Croesia persicana Fitch, 1856

Lozotaenia fragariana Packard, 1869

Ditula ? blandana Clemens, 1864 (1)

Tortrix (Argyrotoxa) conigerana Zeller, 1875 (2)

Clepsis forbesi Obraztsov, 1962 (3)

Specific epithet for peach (Persica), which is oddly enough the only time it has been recorded from this host. (4)

Forewing length 8.5-11 mm. (5)

Larva to 18 mm.

Adult: forewing with white outward-curving triangular patch at center of costa; basal and subterminal areas light orange; medial area rich brown; terminal line white; overall smooth and sleek look. [adapted from description by Lynn Scott] Hindwing gray with white fringe. Powell & Opler states that the Pacific Slope form, west of the continental divide, is more subdued in coloration than the typical form and was described by Obraztsov as Clepsis forbesi, now a junior synonym. (5)

Larva: body slender, yellowish-green or grayish-green with gray or dark green middorsal and subdorsal stripes; thoracic shield and head brownish-yellow; head with dark ocellar area and short dark dash anterolaterally.

Alaska, British Columbia to Newfoundland, south to North Carolina, west to California. (6), (4)

Adults fly from June to August. Larvae from April to June. Pupae in June and July.

Larvae feed on more than 40 species of trees, including alder, peach, apple, birch, Douglas-fir, fir, Eastern Hemlock, maple, pine, spruce, Tamarack, willow. (7)

Overwinters as an egg or partially-grown larva on the ground; one generation per year.

Fitch, A., 1856. Insects infesting fruit trees. Third report on the noxious and other insects of the state of New York: 357.

Moth Photographers Group - species page with photos of living and pinned adults.

BOLD - Barcode of Life Data Systems

E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum