504 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The Codlin Moth. 



Codlin Moth, Carpocapsa pomonella, L. (U.S.A. St. Bd. Oregon^ 

 1899-1900, pp. 280-315).— Prof. M. V. 'Slingerland gives a very full 

 account of the Codlin moth in this report. After some general 

 historical notes he points out the very general distribution of the pest. 

 It occurs, apparently, wherever the Apple is grown, except, perhaps, British 

 Columbia. While injurious chiefly to the Apple, it is also found in the 

 Pear, Hawthorn, Crab, Quince, Plum, Peach, Apricot, and Cherry. The 

 paper then goes on to describe the appearance and life-history of the pest. 

 The moth appears about the time the Apple blossoms fall, and a day or 

 two after lays its eggs on the skin of the young Apple or on adjacent 

 leaves. The eggs hatch in about a week. The little grub finds its way 

 into the blossom end of the Apple, where it feeds for several days, finally 

 eating its way to the core. After about three weeks, when nearly full 

 grown, it makes an exit tunnel to the surface, closing the outside opening 

 for a few days while it feeds inside. Afterwards it emerges from the 

 Apple, makes its way down the tree-trunk, and spins a cocoon under the 

 loose bark. If in the summer, the grub then soon transforms into a pupa, 

 from which the adult emerges in about two weeks, and eggs are laid, from 

 Avhich a second brood hatches. At the latter end of the summer all the 

 caterpillars spin cocoons in the loose bark, and pass the winter in the 

 larval condition, transforming in the spring, and so completing their life 

 history. In the colder parts of the United States only a part of the first 

 brood become pupal during the summer succeeding the hatching, the rest 

 remain in the larval condition until the next spring. (It seems that there 

 is usually only one brood in this country, but there is a certain amount 

 of evidence that there are more.) 



" How to Fight the Codlin Moth" is the subject discussed in the next 

 few pages. Many experiments have been tried to devise an efficient trap 

 for the capture of the moths, but with no great degree of success. It 

 seems, however, that the prevention of the escape of the moths which 

 may appear in the fruit-room by means of mosquito nets placed over the 

 windows during May, June, and July would be a means of preventing 

 their increase, since a case is reported where 1,000 moths were captured in 

 s, single day. Attempts at reaching the insect in the egg and pupal stages 

 have met with little success, the most vulnerable point in the life-history 

 l3eing the caterpillar stage. Among the many means which have been 

 recommended for the destruction of the caterpillar is the prompt destruc- 

 tion of the ''windfalls " ; trapping the caterpillars by means of bands of 

 rough cloth or straw paper under which they will go in their effort to find 

 a crevice where to spin the cocoon. These bands must be frequently 

 examined from June to September, as the caterpillars go down at different 

 times. 



The most effective method at present in use appears to be spraying. 

 The spray recommended is Paris green at the rate of one pound in 160 

 galls, or 200 galls, of water, or it may be used with Bordeaux mixture 

 when there is any likelihood of fungoid attack. The spraying should be 

 performed within a week of the falling of the petals. It appears that 

 the moths do not emerge until several days after the falling of the petals ; 



