What is a codling moth?

By Chelsie Vandaveer

December 31, 2003

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There is only one thing worse than biting into an apple and finding a 'worm'. It is biting into the apple and finding half a 'worm'. The 'worm' is a caterpillar, the larval stage of the codling moth (Cydia pomonella (Linnaeus)).

Codling Moth, Larva Burrowing in Apple, Notts

Within 24 hours of hatching, the tiny caterpillars chew their way into the fruit. They eat into the center of the fruit and feed on the developing seeds. Codling Moth, Larva Burrowing in Apple, Notts
David Fox Buy Photographic Print at AllPosters.com

The codling moth is native to Eurasia and a major pest of apples (Malus species) and pears (Pyrus species). The moth has been introduced wherever apples and pears were introduced; it is considered a pest in temperate zones worldwide. The adult is gray and white, cryptically colored to the apple bark where it rests during the day.

The insects are bivoltine--two generations per year. Each mated female will lay thirty to seventy eggs on young developing apples or on leaves near the apples. Within 24 hours of hatching, the tiny caterpillars chew their way into the fruit. They eat into the center of the fruit and feed on the developing seeds. If the insects are not controlled, they can ruin 95 percent of the fruit in the orchard.

Control of the moth is difficult. With the majority of their lifetime spent inside the fruit, they are safe from predators and contact insecticides. The most effective control discovered to date is to lure the males with the female's pheromones into sticky traps. ("Codling Moth", Diane G. Alston and Michael E. Reding, Entomology, Utah State University Extension Service)

The name, codling moth, dates to the mid-1800s. The moth was named for the codlin or codling, a small hard sour apple that grew semi-wild in hedgerows and could only be eaten stewed. (Century Unabridged Dictionary, 1889)

Kansas State University Research and Extension Service has posted photographs of the cryptically colored adult and the larva emerging from an apple. To view the photographs, click on the link:

http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/dp_hfrr/extensn/problems/codling.htm

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Codling moths are among the worst enemies of apples, peaches, pears, crab apples and English walnuts. The larvae bore into the center of the fruit to feed on the seeds.

Damage can be extensive, often involving all fruit on the tree, and control is complicated because the pest produces two generations each year.

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For best results, set out traps two weeks before bud break. Use two traps per mature full-size tree, one for a dwarf tree. Replace lure after eight weeks.

If crop damage has already begun, traps may reduce the second generation, but additional control methods will be needed. Click here - $20 FREE off your first order at Gardens Alive! Click here for All Home Orchards Products.

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