In support of a comprehensive update to the checklist of the moths of North America, we attempt to determine the status of 151 species of Tortricidae present in North America that may be Holarctic, introduced, or sibling species of their European counterparts. Discovering the natural distributions of these taxa is often difficult, if not impossible, but several criteria can be applied to determine if a species that is present in both Europe and North America is natively Holarctic, introduced, or represented by different but closely related species on each continent. We use DNA barcodes (when available), morphology, host plants, and historical records (literature and museum specimens) to make these assessments and propose several taxonomic changes, as well as future areas of research. The following taxa are raised from synonymy to species status: Acleris ferrumixtana (Benander, 1934), stat. rev.; Acleris viburnana (Clemens, 1860), stat. rev.; Acleris pulverosana (Walker, 1863), stat. rev.; Acleris placidana (Robinson, 1869), stat. rev.; Lobesia spiraeae (McDunnough, 1938), stat. rev.; and Epiblema arctica Miller, 1985, stat. rev. Cydia saltitans (Westwood, 1858), stat. rev., is determined to be the valid name for the “jumping bean moth,” and Phiaris glaciana (Möschler, 1860), comb. n., is placed in a new genus. We determine that the number of Holarctic species has been overestimated by at least 20% in the past, and that the overall number of introduced species in North America is unexpectedly high, with Tortricidae accounting for approximately 23–30% of the total number of Lepidoptera species introduced to North America.

Remarkably similar forewing patterns, striking sexual dimorphism, and rampant sympatry combine to present a taxonomically and morphologically bewildering complex of five species of Anacrusis tortricid moths in Central America: Anacrusis turrialbae Razowski, Anacrusis piriferana (Zeller), Anacrusis terrimccarthyae, n. sp., Anacrusis nephrodes (Walsingham), and Anacrusis ellensatterleeae, n. sp. Morphology and DNA barcodes (i.e., the mitochondrial gene COI) corroborate the integrity of the five species, all of which have been reared from caterpillars in Area de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG) in northwestern Costa Rica. These species are polyphagous, with larval foodplants spanning many families of flowering plants. In ACG they occupy different forest types that are correlated with elevation.

Two new species of Megalota Diakonoff, 1966 are described and illustrated from the Bahamas: M. bahamana Brown & Matthews, new species, and M. insularis Brown and Matthews, new species. The two are among the 65 or so species of Tortricidae recorded from the Bahamas during an inventory of the Lepidoptera of the archipelago initiated in 2010.

Summary: In potato invertase genes, the constitutively included, 9‐nucleotide (nt)‐long mini‐exon requires a strong branchpoint and U‐rich polypyrimidine tract for inclusion. The strength of these splicing signals was demonstrated by greatly enhanced splicing of a poorly spliced intron and by their ability to support splicing of an artificial mini‐exon, following their introduction. Plant introns also require a second splicing signal, UA‐rich intronic elements, for efficient intron splicing. Mutation of the branchpoint caused loss of mini‐exon inclusion without loss of splicing enhancement, showing that the same U‐rich sequence can function as either a polypyrimidine tract or a UA‐rich intronic element. The distinction between the splicing signals depended on intron context (the presence or absence of an upstream, adjacent and functional branchpoint), and on the sequence context of the U‐rich elements. Polypyrimidine tracts tolerated C residues while UA‐rich intronic elements tolerated As. Thus, in plant introns, U‐rich splicing elements can have dual roles as either a general plant U‐rich splicing signal or a polypyrimidine tract. Finally, overexpression of two different U‐rich binding proteins enhanced intron recognition significantly. These results highlight the importance of co‐operation between splicing signals, the importance of other nucleotides within U‐rich elements for optimal binding of competing splicing factors and effects on splicing efficiency of U‐rich binding proteins.

We re-evaluate eleven fossils that have previously been assigned to the family Tortricidae, describe one additional fossil, and assess whether observable morphological features warrant confident assignment of these specimens to this family. We provide an overview of the age and origin of the fossils and comment on their contribution towards understanding the phylogeny of the Lepidoptera. Our results show that only one specimen, Antiquatortia histuroides Brown & Baixeras gen. and sp. nov., shows a character considered synapomorphic for the family. Six other fossils (Electresia zalesskii Kusnezov, 1941; Tortricidrosis inclusa Skalski, 1973; Tortricites skalskii Kozlov, 1988; Tortricibaltia diakonoffi Skalski, 1992; Polyvena horatis Poinar and Brown, 1993 and a trace fossil purported to be larval feeding damage of Retinia resinella (Linnaeus, 1758)) exhibit a combination of homoplastic characters typical of tortricid moths or characteristic feeding damage. An unnamed species doubtfully assigned to Olethreutinae by Skalski (1992), Spatalistiforma submerga Skalski, 1992, Tortricites florissantanus (Cockerell, 1907), Tortricites destructus (Cockerell, 1916) and Tortricites sadilenkoi Kozlov, 1988 do not show enough character evidence to be convincingly placed in Tortricidae. Therefore, we transfer the three latter species from the collective group Tortricites Kozlov, 1988, defined as an assemblage of fossil leafrollers that cannot be placed with certainty in known genera, to Paleolepidopterites Kozlov, new collective group, defined as a group of fossil lepidopterans whose assignment to a certain family is currently impossible.