Periclepsis cinctana

Periclepsis cinctana, the Dover twist, is a species of moth of the family Tortricidae found in Europe. It was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775.

Periclepsis cinctana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Tortricidae
Genus:	Periclepsis
Species:	P. cinctana
Binomial name
Periclepsis cinctana ([Denis & Schiffermuller, 1775) [1]
Synonyms
Tortrix cinctana [Denis & Schiffermuller], 1775 Tortrix albidana Hubner, [1796-1799] Pyralis ceretana Fabricius, 1787

Description

The wingspan is 13–17 mm.^[2][3] Adults have been recorded on wing from late April to the beginning of July.

The larvae feed on Lotus, Anthyllis, Genista and Cytisus species from within a tubular silken gallery. The species overwinters in the larval stage.^[4]

Distribution

It is found in most of Europe, where it has been recorded from Spain, Great Britain (Kent and the island of Tiree, where it is known as the Tiree Twist^[5]), the Benelux, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, North Macedonia, Norway, Sweden, the Baltic region and Russia.^[6]

A colony was found at Kent Wildlife Trust's Lydden Temple Ewell nature reserve, in June 2025, the species not having been seen in England since 1952.^[5]

The habitat consists of chalk downlands and calcareous grasslands.^[7]