26 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



ation will agree that the above figures are conservative and 

 probably greatly understate the actual loss. 



Early history 



It should not be understood that the apple worm or codling 

 moth is a recent insect pest, though there was a time when this 

 species was unknown in America. Undoubtedly Cato had this 

 form in mind when writing about wormy apples nearly 200 years 

 B, C. Pliny also mentions this pest, though the true history 

 of this insect, according to the late Professor Slingerland, begins 

 with the brief account of Goedaerdt, published in 1635. Several 

 European writers discussed the insect in the next and following 

 century. 



The first notice of this species in American literature was 

 occasioned by the rearing of a moth from plums instead of the 

 familiar plum curculio. Dr T. W. Harris, our first economic 

 entomologist, established in 1832 the identity of the American 

 apple worm with the well known European species. Subse- 

 quently, numerous accounts were published by earlier workers, 

 while the developments of recent years have shown the wisdom 

 of making more careful studies of this species. The result is an 

 enormous literature, much of it a repetition of facts ascertained 

 by early investigators. The more recent discussions of this insect 

 have almost invariably been preceded by original investigations 

 and have therefore added something to our knowledge of this 

 pest. 



On gill and distribution 



This insect is doubtless a native of southeastern Europe, 

 though it is now known to occur in almost every part of the 

 world where apples are grown. South Africa and Australia made 

 determined efforts to exclude the pest and were successful for 

 some years. This moth was probably brought into the United 

 States in the latter part of the i8th century, since it was not 

 recognized in America till 1819, at which time wormy fruit was 

 common in the vicinity of Boston. It was prevalent in the New 

 England States by 1840 and was at that time well established in 

 central New York. It was recognized in Illinois in 1849, Iowa 

 about i860, Utah 1870 and appeared in California the spring of 

 1874. There may be a few isolated fruit regions in the far West 

 where the insect has not yet become established. It is only a 

 question of time before it will make its way to these remote places. 



