THE CODLING MOTH. 



(Carpocapsa pomonella L.) 

 LIFE HISTORY. 



Wormy apples are fully as alnnidant in Maryland as in other states 

 of the ITnion, and this worminess is due almost entirely to the larvas of 

 the Codling- Moth. A little mass of brown excremental grains about the 

 calyx end of the apple, or more rarely issuing from a small hole in its 

 side, indicates the presence of this insect. Upon cutting the apple open 

 these holes are seen to lead to rapidly broadening tunnels reaching to 

 the core, which is often eaten through or surrounded by the nauseous 

 Ijrown cavities. 



The perfect insect is, as shown at Fig. 1, a small grayish moth, 



which issues from its cocoon about 

 the time the trees are in full bloom, 

 and soon thereafter lays its eggs in 

 the forming fruit, choosing the 

 calyx cavity or its immediate vicin- 

 ity for this purpose. The eggs 

 hatch and the young larvse gnaw 

 their way through the skin and into 

 the fruit, moving up and down free- 

 ly in their burrows and enlarging 

 the entrance holes to push out their 

 excrement. In about a month they 

 become full-grown. By this time 

 the infested apples have begun to 

 fall to the ground; but whether 

 they fall or not, the larva bore to 

 Fig. i.-carpocapsa pomonella; a, apple ^^^^ si^^*?^ and issue through a round 

 showing the work of the larva; h, point of hole. If issuinor from a fallen apple, 



entrance of the larva ; d, pupa; e, larva;/, 0, 11 ii i, ,-, , , ^ 



moth : 7(, head of larva ; i, cocoon. tney crawl back to the tree trunk 



iind mount it until some convenient crevice or piece of loose bark is found, 

 and here they spin their cocoons and transform to the pupa state. If 

 issuing from an apple which has not fallen, however, they crawl down 

 the branches until they reach the rough bark of the trunk, on which, as 

 in the other case, they spin their cocoons. 



A few days after completing the cocoon, the larva in this first or 

 summer generation changes to the chrysalis state, and in about two weeks, 

 on the average, from the time of leaving the apple, issues as a moth. The 

 female soon begins to oviposit, at this season not so uniformly in the 

 calyx end as Avas the case with the preceding generation in the spring. 

 This summer generation of motlis issues quite irregularly, covering a 



