Codling Moth

Adult moths have mottled grey-brown wings with a distinctive coppery patch near the wingtip. Larvae are pinkish-white with a brown head and tunnel into fruit, often near the calyx end, leaving a small entry hole plugged with reddish-brown frass as the main external sign.

Codling moth overwinters as a mature larva in a silken cocoon under bark or in soil debris, pupating in spring. Adult moths emerge, mate, and females lay eggs on leaves or fruit. Newly hatched larvae bore into fruit within a short time, after which they are protected from most external factors.

The number of generations completed each year, typically one to three, depends on accumulated temperature, and degree-day models are widely used to track development and predict the timing of each generation.

Larval tunneling directly damages fruit, often reaching the core and seeds, rendering it unmarketable and more prone to secondary rot, and can trigger premature fruit drop before harvest.

Apple is the principal host crop worldwide, with the pest also affecting other pome fruit in some growing regions.

Pheromone traps detect and track adult flight activity, while degree-day models predict egg-hatch timing so that monitoring and any decisions can target the brief window before larvae enter fruit. Regular fruit inspection for entry holes and frass supplements trap data through the season.

Codling moth management combines mating disruption, monitoring, and orchard sanitation within an integrated approach.

• Use pheromone-based mating disruption where locally established as a practice
• Time monitoring and any action around degree-day-predicted egg-hatch windows
• Conserve parasitoid wasps and other natural enemies
• Remove and destroy fallen and infested fruit to reduce carry-over
• Scrape or otherwise manage bark crevices where larvae overwinter