74 INSECTS AND MAN 



but how many know the history of these destructive little 

 maggots, which are more serious enemies to this fruit than 

 all the other apple pests combined ? The familiar maggots 

 are the larvae of the codling moth, Carpocapsa pomonella, 

 whose popular name is derived from the old English word 

 " querdlying," which means an immature or half -grown 

 apple. The original home of this moth probably coincides 

 with the original home of the apple, that is to say, South- 

 East Europe ; it is now almost cosmopolitan, having been 

 recognised in America in 1819, Australia in 1855, in 

 Tasmania about 1861, New Zealand in 1874, South Africa 

 about 1885, and South America in 1891. Needless to say, 

 it has spread all over Europe and even into Siberia. 



In many fruit-growing districts the codling moth causes 

 an annual loss of from forty to seventy-five per cent, of 

 the crop. Although the apple is the most infested fruit, 

 pears are also attacked, and, to a lesser extent, peaches, 

 prunes, plums, cherries, quinces, and apricots. No insect 

 of economic importance has received so much attention 

 from entomologists; it has been studied in nearly every 

 country in the world, and boasts a literature far beyond its 

 deserts, yet, in spite of all, there are one or two points in 

 its life-history that remain undetermined. 



Although the codling moth was mentioned by Goedaert 

 in his Metamorphosis Naturalis so long ago as 1635, it 

 is a remarkable fact that the eggs were never accurately 

 described and figured till almost two hundred and sixty 

 years later. In size about the dimensions of a pin's head, 

 the egg is oval-shaped and flat, with a surrounding flange ; 

 its surface is much ridged, the ridges forming a network 

 of varied mesh, being smaller towards the centre and more 

 open towards the edge. The eggs, which are glued to the 

 apple fruit or leaf by the mother moth, are pearly white 

 when first laid, becoming darker with advancing age; they 

 possess a peculiar power of reflecting light, which renders 

 them somewhat conspicuous. In many countries where 



