Hantsmoths

A small species with a forewing length of 4.5 to 7.5mm, and like most species of Clepsis, the females are larger than males. A native of North America, from Canada down to Ecuador. Its range now extends as far south east as Florida and in the west to Ecuador. It was introduced to Europe in 1987, when discovered in Denmark in 1987, and has since been recorded from Norway to Austria and south to Spain and Italy. First recorded in Britain in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire on 20th July 2023, there have been a number of British records since: the first Hampshire record was in 2025. The larva is polyphagous on a number of commercially grown plants from strawberries to potato, which has led to its spread across continents.
The closest confusion species is Clepsis spectrana, which is larger and has a dark basal streak on the leading edge of the forewing and a longer narrow streak in the outer area of the leading edge.