Post category: Codling moth

 

Codling moth is a common pest of apples in some parts of the country, especially in town gardens. Pears are occasionally attacked. The caterpillar bores into the centre of the fruit, destroying it and often causing it to fall early. The caterpillar pupates in a cocoon and emerges the following year.

Destroying fallen apples, and using bands of sacking to trap the pest in the cocoons, helps to reduce numbers but control will not be good because the adults fly in from neighbouring gardens.

Spray with Hygeia Caterpillar Spray as blossoming finishes, and again three weeks later, to kill the caterpillars before they enter the fruit. Plum sawfly and plum fruit moth have a similar life cycle and can be controlled in the same way.