Cyclamen tortrix

Systematic position: Clepsis spectrana belongs to the order Lepidoptera and the family Tortricidae. It is a well-known pest distributed across temperate regions, often causing significant economic losses in both glasshouse crops and ornamental horticulture.

Host plants: The species is highly polyphagous, meaning it feeds on a wide variety of plants. It is particularly damaging to strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, carnations, and various woody ornamental shrubs, making it a difficult pest to manage in diverse cropping systems.

Biology and life cycle: The pest typically completes two to three generations per year. Larvae overwinter in silken shelters among debris or within the foliage of host plants. The adults, which are moths with brown to greyish patterned wings, emerge and lay eggs in clusters on the leaves during the warmer months.

Nature of damage and pest status: Larvae are the primary cause of damage. They feed by webbing leaves together, creating shelters where they skeletonize the tissue. They also bore into flower buds and ripening fruits, which not only renders the produce unmarketable but also opens pathways for fungal infections like Botrytis.

Control measures:

• Sanitation: removing crop debris and weed hosts to eliminate overwintering sites.
• Biological control: utilizing Bacillus thuringiensis sprays to target young larvae.
• Monitoring: deploying pheromone traps to track flight periods and timing insecticide applications.
• Cultural practices: managing crop density and humidity levels to discourage outbreaks.
• Chemical control: applying registered selective insecticides when the first larval damage is observed.