INSECTS ON THE FARM 



305 



392. Codling-moth distribution. The codling moth has been 

 known for hundreds of years. It was described and given its 

 scientific name in 1758 by Linnaeus, the man who devised our 

 present system of naming plants and animals. It is present in 

 the United States wherever apples are grown. In 1907 Pro- 

 fessor Quaintance estimated the annual loss due to this insect 

 in the United States at about $12,000,000. 



393. Life history and habits of the codling moth. The moths 

 appear in early spring, and about two weeks after the apples are 

 in blossom the females 



lay their eggs on the 

 leaves, usually on the 

 upper side, and more 

 rarely on the young fruit. 

 When the eggs hatch, 

 the young larvae feed 

 for a short time on the 

 foliage and then make 

 their vvay to the nearest 

 apple and bore into it, 

 usually through the blos- 

 som end (Fig. 152). 

 They feed about the 

 core of the apple until 

 they are full grown, 

 which is about the first 

 of June. During June and July the larvae emerge from the fruit 

 and pupate. Pupation generally occurs under loose scales of the 

 bark or in loose trash on the ground. In a short time moths 

 again appear and begin laying eggs for the second brood. This 

 time the greater number of the eggs are deposited on the fruit, 

 and the larvae, as soon as they are hatched, bore into the 

 fruit through the side or at either end. Unless the season be 

 exceptionally long, these larvae make cocoons in which they 

 usually remain through the winter as larvae, pupating the next 

 spring. In exceptional seasons a third brood may be formed. 



FIG. 152. Work of the codling-moth larva in 

 an apple. (After Lamson) 



