The type locality of Curtara insularis (Caldwell, 1952) was originally recorded as San Juan, Puerto Rico. This species remained little known until it became invasive in parts of the Western Hemisphere, including the southeastern United States, in the early 2000's. Examination of the locality labels of the male holotype and female allotype of C. insularis revealed that the type locality is not San Juan, Puerto Rico as previously assumed, but is instead San Juan, Argentina. The morphological distinction in the literature between C. insularis and C. samera DeLong and Freytag, 1972, described from southern Brazil and northern Argentina, has been unclear. Morphological comparison of the type and allotype of C. insularis to 25 male paratypes of C. samera showed no significant morphological differences between the two taxa, and the differences suggested by authors to distinguish the two species are determined here to be unsupported. Based on these observations, C. insularis is considered the valid name, with C. samera considered a new synonym. The holotype and allotype of C. insularis and selected paratypes of C. samera are illustrated, and new records, notes on reported host plants, and distribution of C. insularis are provided.