What is a codling moth?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
December 31, 2003
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Killer Picks: Codling Moth Trap, Fruit Trees Alive!® Build-Up Formula—>Click here.
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)).
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
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
Why do apple growers chop down cedars? Weird Plants - April 17, 2003
Why must apples be grafted? Weird Plants - April 3, 2003
What is a codling moth? Renfield's Garden - December 31, 2003
Who was Tantalus? What's in a Name? - July 30, 2004
What was a crabbe? What's in a Name? - March 28, 2003
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Codling Moth Trap
Gardens Alive!®
Prevents worm damage to fruit crops
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.
Our traps produce excellent results. A unique technology releases the pheromone scent continuously, in tiny amounts, for up to eight weeks.
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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.
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Fruit Trees Alive!® Build-Up Formula
Gardens Alive!®
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Helps fruit trees grow faster and bear big, delicious harvests
Signature Product Fruit Trees Alive! has been specially formulated to meet the growth demands of apples, peaches and most other fruit trees.
Eleven macro- and micronutrients are in the mix, including copper and sulfur, which produce the delicious sweetness so characteristic of well-grown, tree-ripened fruit.
Build-Up Formula For small, newly planted trees, scatter about two cups around the trunk; for larger new trees, apply at the rate of 10 lbs. per 1,000 sq. ft. For severely depleted soils, apply in the second year at the rate of 5 lbs. per 1,000 sq. ft. in spring and again in midsummer.
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Fruit Trees Alive! was designed for medium to heavy soils with average fertility. On sandy soils, or for the tree's first year of growth, use our Build-Up Formula, which contains extra micronutrients. Follow up annually with Maintenance Formula to replace nutrients used for growth and production.
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