Codling moth

Codling moth,Family Tortricidae] is one of the most serious pests of apples.

Codling moths are translucent light green with a pale yellow horizontal line along each side and reddish-orange fleshy knobs (tubercles) on each body segment. They grow to be 2 3/4 inches long.

Codling moths adult female CM is approximately 3/8 inch long and grayish in color. The male is similar but with a pencil of hairs located near the wing base. The wing is generally a darker shade of gray near the base, with a dark patch containing coppery scales near the inside wing tip. The adults hold their wings tent-shaped over the body when at rest. The larva has a cream to pinkish body and brown head with dark speckles on the prothoracic shield (collar behind the head). When fully grown, larvae are from 1/2 – 5/8 inch in overall length.

apple, pear, crabapple, English walnut, quince,hawthorn, apricot, plum, peach, cherry. Bore into fruit within 24 hours after hatching, then tunnel to core where they feed on developing seeds. Pass through five instars inside fruit in 3 to 5 weeks. Fruit attacked early in the spring often drops; larval development can be completed in the fallen fruit. After completing development, larvae exit from fruit by entry hole or by a new exit hole and crawl to a protected site for pupation Larvae may pupate and emerge as second- or third-generation adults in 10 – 20 days, or enter diapause and remain larvae until the following spring

Life Cycle: female moths begin to lay single eggs on the fruit and leaves. Each female lays an average of 50 to 60 eggs. When temperatures are below 60 degrees F, few eggs are laid and there is little mothflight activity. The egg is tiny (1/32 inch diameter [1.2 mm]), whitish, flattened disc-shaped, and almost transparent. Eggs hatch in 8 to 14 days. The newly hatched larva is yellowish-white with a black head; it immediately begins crawling to seek a fruit on which to feed.

On the fruit, the larva wanders about seeking a rough area, such as the calyx end or scab spot, in which to make an easier entrance into the fruit. Early in the season the favorite point of entrance is apparently through the calyx, but later many larvae attack the side of the apple. The larva spends about three weeks feeding and growing. The fully grown larva is 1/2 inch (12 mm) long, white with a pinkish tinge on the upper surface, and has a brown head.

larva leaves the fruit by either enlarging the entrance burrow or cutting a new channel to the outside. On leaving the fruit, it seeks a suitable place to spin a cocoon similar to the type described for the overwintering larva. Although a number of these larvae may remain in cocoons until the following spring, especially in northern Ohio, many emerge as adults in 12 to 21 days. This summer brood of adults usually starts emerging sometime in July. The peak of summer moth emergence occurs about the first of August in northern Ohio, with the last emergence about September

Damage : is caused by feeding of the larvae in fruit. There are two types of damage: deep entries and stings. Deep entries occur when larvae bore to the center of the fruit and feed on seeds. Brown frass, or excrement, extrudes from the entry hole or a new hole destined to be an exit. In pear, this type of injury is first noticed in the calyx. On more mature fruit, a new entry is often surrounded by a red ring. Stings are shallow entries where the larvae died or gave up and tried another place. Both types of damage make the fruit unmarketable, but deep entries are a problem in stored fruit because bacteria and fungi in them lead to fruit rot.

Control: regular scouting of the trees and fruit, pheromone trapping, and the use of weather monitoring and degree day models. Orchards should be scouted twice a week early in the season and on a weekly basis for insects and mites during mid‑season. Closer to harvest scouting visits may be stretched to two weeks apart.

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