Molecular approach to the systematics of European Tortricini (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)

Tortricini is a cosmopolitan tribe of the subfamily Tortricinae of the lepidopteran family Tortricidae. The most recent systematic of Tortricini are based on the external morphology of imagines and the structure of their genital organs. The present paper is the first comparative molecular study of the representatives of this tribe. We examined DNA variation in a 606 bp fragment of COI mtDNA obtained from 23 species of Tortricini and two representatives of other tribes (Archips podanus of Archipini and Aethes hartmanniana of Cochylini). The position of Spatalistis, Tortrix, Aleimma and Acleris, and some groupings of species within Acleris were confirmed by molecular data, including the synonymization of Croesia and Phylacophora with Acleris. The positions of a few groupings of the Acleris species remain unresolved.