80 THE CANADIAN IiaHTICULTURlST. 



THE CODLIN MOTH. ( Carjpoca^psa pomonella.) 



BY WM. SAUNDERS, LONDON, ONT. 



The Editor has kindly sent me some correspondence lately received 

 containing enquiries relating to this insect, from which it appears that 

 erroneous ideas have been circulated of late by the press in reference 

 to the habits of the codlin moth. The statements made, although 

 somewhat contradictory, are all claimed to come from reliable men, 

 who do not however attach their names to the communications. It is 

 asserted, in tlie first place, that the female codlin moth has no wings, 

 "but crawls up the apple trees to deposit its eggs on the fruit. Second, 

 that it has wiiigs, and is attracted by sweets, and that hundreds of 

 them may be readily caught by hanging jars of sweetened water at 

 night among the branches of the apple trees. A third statement is 

 that the larvae, when full grown, descend to the ground and enter the 

 earth to change to chrysalids. 



It is evident that the first conclusion as to the wingless character 

 of the females has been arrived at by the writer confounding the 

 canker worm moth or the tussock moth with the codlin moth. In 

 both the former species the females are wingless, but the female codlin 

 moth is furnished with ample wings, with which she files as actively 

 as her male companion. 



With regard to the trapping of codlin moths by means of sweet 

 liquids, I may say that it is contrary to the experience of all ento- 

 mologists. Many years ago this remedy was recommended, and I then 

 gave it what I considered a fair test. At the time when the codlin 

 moths were plentiful and on the wing, I hung bottles of sugar and 

 water, others with the same sweet liquid mixed with a little Jamaica 

 rum, and another series mixed with other flavoring materials which 

 were supposed to be particularly attractive to insects. Hundreds of 

 moths were captured, but the most careful examination failed to 

 reveal the presence of a single codlin moth among them. Other ento- 

 mologists have tried this remedy with similar results. 



Entomologists everywhere are in the habit of trapping moths by 

 alluring them to sweetened fluids by night. The liquor generally used 

 is West India molasses mixed with ale, or diluted M'ith water flavored 

 with . Jamaica rum. This is brushed on the smooth bark of trees, or 

 on pieces of shingle tacked to tliem; or pieces of cloth or flannel are 



