348 



Handbook of Nature-Study 



A wormy apple. 

 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 



neighboring apples. This 

 insect also attacks pears 

 and sometimes peaches. It 

 has been carefully estimated 

 that every year the codling 

 moth does three million 

 dollars worth of injury to 

 the apple and pear crops in 

 New York State. Think of 

 paying three million dollars 

 a year for the sake of having 

 wormy apples! 



The larvffi usually leave 

 the apples before winter. If 

 the apples have fallen, they 

 crawl up the tree and there 

 make their cocoons beneath 

 the loose bark; but if they 

 leave the apples while they 

 are on the trees, they spin 

 silk and swing down. If carried into the storeroom or placed in 

 barrels, they seek quarters in protected crevices. In fact, while they 

 particularly like the loose bark of the apple trees, they are likely to build 

 their cocoons on nearby fences or on brush, wherever they can find the 

 needed protection. The cocoon is made of fine but rather rough silk 

 which is spun from a gland opening near the mouth of the caterpillar; 

 the cocoon is not beautiful although it is smooth inside. It is usually 

 spun between a loose bit of bark and the body of the tree; but after mak- 

 ing it, the insect seems in no hurry to change its condition and remains a 

 quite lively caterpillar until spring. It is while the codling larvae are in 

 their winter quarters that our bird 

 friends of the winter, the nut- 

 hatches, woodpeckers and chicka- 

 dees, destroy them in great num- 

 bers, hunting eagerly for them in 

 every crevice of the trees. It is 

 therefore good policy for us to coax 

 these birds to our orchards by 

 placing beef fat on the branches 

 and thus entice these little cater- 

 pillar hunters to visit the trees 

 every day. 



It is an interesting fact that the 

 codling caterpillars, which make 

 cocoons before August first, change 

 immediately to pupae which soon 

 change to moths, and thus another 

 generation gets in its work before 

 the apples are harvested. 



The codling moth is a beautiful '^''' ^'"''ZiuhT T'^^'d' '""*' 



little creature with delicate antennae Photomicrograph by m' v, siingeriand. 



