CODLING MOTH 
43 
and the whole group of flycatchers, including the kingbirds 
and phoebes. 
28. Codling Moth. — The most destructive of the lepidop- 
terous insects is the codling moth, already mentioned as an 
example of metamorphosis. The larvae become adult in , 
April at about the time the early apple trees blossom. The 
eggs are laid on the young apples and the larvae begin to 
eat the growing apple, 
which, as a result in 
many cases, drops to the 
ground. In any event 
the quality of the apple 
is injured. 
After these larvae be¬ 
come mature they escape 
from the apple, spin their 
cocoons, and in a few 
days emerge as adults. 
They mature about the 
time the late apples are 
blossoming or later and 
the females lay their eggs 
either in the blossoms or 
on the small fruit. The 
same damage is done as 
to the early apples, but 
as each mature female 
lays a hundred or more 
eggs and as the most important apple crop is the late 
one, the chief damage is at this time. 
In one year the injury done by the codling moth to the 
apple and pear industry in New York State alone amounted 
to $3,000,000. By applying a spray containing some poison 
just after the petals have fallen, the codling moths may be 
destroyed. The spray should not be used while the blossoms 
Figure 30. — Cedar Waxwing. 
Feeding its young a flying insect. One 
of our most beneficial birds. 
