BULLETIN 143. 



THE CODLING MOTH. 



BY E. DWIGHT SANDERSON. 



Introduction. Bulletin 131 of this Station, issued in April, 

 1907, discussed "Spraying the Apple Orchard" both as regards 

 insects and diseases, and was based upon our investigations in 

 1905 and 1906. Investigations of the codling moth were con- 

 tinued in 1907 and 1908 and have been described in detail in 

 the Nineteenth and Twentieth Reports. The present bulletin 

 will give the practical results of these studies in popular form. 



The Codling Moth is our principal insect pest of apples. The 

 fruit is also seriously injured by the apple maggot or "railroad 

 worm," but usually it injures only summer and fall varieties 

 and is not so generally in- 

 jurious. However, during 

 the past season apples of 

 nearly all varieties have been 

 "railroaded" and we are 

 now making a thorough in- 

 vestigation of the insect, and 

 after a few years of orchard 

 experiments we hope to be 

 able to advise how it may be 

 practically controlled. The 

 maggot should never be con- 

 fused with the codling moth, 

 as they are totally dissimilar 

 in appearance and habits. 

 Spraying is of no value for the maggot so far as now known. 



The plum curculio also injures the fruit by laying its eggs in 

 the young apples. U.sually these drop while small and a footless 

 white grub, looking much like the larva of the codling moth, 

 develops in them. Where the apples remain on the tree the egg 

 scars cause a pitting and gnarling of the fruit, often rendering 

 it very inferior and unsalable, especially with summer varieties. 

 The work of the curculio may be recognized by the crescent- 

 shaped or semi-circular brown scar left on the apple. The spray- 



FiG. 1.— The work of the Apple Maggot. 



