Codling Moths in Home Orchards

Codling Moths in Home Orchards

By Sandy Vanno, Warren County Master Gardener

The codling moth is a pest introduced from Eurasia. The larvae feed on the fruit of a wide range of host plants, including apple, pear, quince, hawthorne, crabapple, and walnut. It's a major fruit-feeding pest in fruit growing regions of the Western United States and also a significant pest in the East. The codling moth completes 1.5-3.5 generations annually, depending on locality and length of growing season. The spring flight of codling moth adults begins when apples are in full bloom. The second and third flights begin in early to mid-July and mid-August.

If codling moths come to our area, it is very important to manage this pest as follows:

• Keep your orchard or garden clean; this will reduce the chance of attack from this pest. Remove loose bark from old trees.

• Place corrugated cardboard bands around apple trunks in September to trap larvae; remove and destroy in December.

• Pick up and remove any fallen apples throughout the growing season and after harvest, and place them in the trash.

• Do not throw away apples in places where you also store apples.

• Inspect your crates and the storage building for cocoons; destroy the insects.

◦Harvested apples may contain codling moth larvae that might exit the fruit and seek shelter in the storage area. Check storage structures like a garage or barn, which may be a source of codling moths the next spring.

During the day, the adults remain at rest, well camouflaged on the bark of trees. If the temperature is 50-60F  degrees at dusk, the moths become active, mate, and the females lay their eggs. A female may lay up to 100 eggs singly, on the upper surface of leaves or on the fruit. Hatching occurs in 6-20 days, depending on prevailing temperatures.

The larvae go through 5 instars in 3-5 weeks. First-generation eggs are laid on leaves near the fruit or on the fruit itself, and develop in about 8-14 days. The newly hatched larvae bore through the fruit surface, generally at the blossom end, and feed near the surface for a time before boring to the core. Then the larvae feed on the seeds and surrounding flesh until they are fully grown in 3-4 weeks. Then they eat out of an exit tunnel, which they then plug with frass. A larva may take a bite or two of a fruit, causing an injury known as a “sting”, or it may continue feeding, producing a deep entry into the fruit. A sting causes a surface blemish, but unlike a deep entry, it does not result in interior breakdown. When they exit the fruit, they seek shelter, spin a cocoon, and may or may not pupate. The codling moth overwinters as a full-grown larva within a cocoon under leaf litter or loose bark scales.

Predators and parasites feed on codling moth, but they cannot keep the pests from reaching damaging levels. Sprays to control plum curculio at late petal fall usually control the first generation. Apple maggot sprays control the second. To protect pollinators, spraying should not be done during full bloom. Following the petal fall application, cover sprays are necessary to protect the fruit from recently hatched larvae, and controls might be necessary with the hatching of the second and possibly third generations. There are also traps available and mating disruption products. Please consult the latest Cornell Cooperative Extension Recommendations for Commercial Tree-Fruit Production for the most current information on insecticide selection and pest management.

For more detailed information on the life cycle and management of the codling moth, please refer to the referenced documents.

References:

Cornell Cooperative Extension IPM “Tree Fruit Crops, Codling Moth”

Cornell CALS, IPM “Codling Moth Fruit Fact Sheet”

Penn State “Codling Moth in the Home Fruit Planting”

University of Minnesota Extension “Codling Moths in Home Orchards”

Last updated June 24, 2025