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Pests in Gardens and Landscapes: Quick Tips

Codling month larva and damage in apple.

Mound of frass, a ?sting,? indicates where codling moth larva entered fruit.

Newly hatched larva and eggs.

Codling moth, the infamous “worm” in the apple, is difficult to manage in the home orchard. Soon after hatching, caterpillars bore into apples, pears, or walnuts and feed, leaving reddish-brown droppings (frass). Early-maturing fruit varieties are less likely to suffer damage. Use an integrated pest management (IPM) approach that combines several of the methods described below. Combining low-toxicity insecticides with nonchemical methods is the most environmentally sound approach.
Trees heavily infested every year require carefully timed insecticide application.

Codling moth life cycle:

• Adult moths emerge in mid-March to April and mate after sunset temperatures exceed 62°F.
• Tiny disc-shaped eggs are laid on fruit or leaves.
• Newly hatched larvae immediately crawl to fruit and bore inside.
• Larvae feed within fruit until mature then drop to the ground to pupate in soil or debris or under tree bark. Mature larvae overwinter under bark in cocoons and pupate in spring.
• Two to four generations occur per year in California.

Reduce codling moths with sanitation practices.

• Promptly remove infested fruit from trees. Look for worm entry points (“stings”) marked by tiny mounds of reddish-brown frass.
• Rake up and destroy dropped fruit as soon as it falls, especially in May and June.
• Sanitation alone won’t control the pest.

Protect fruit by bagging.

• Bag when fruit is 1/2 to 1 inch in diameter, 4 to 6 weeks after bloom.
• Cut a 2-inch slit in the bottom of a standard lunch bag, thin fruit to one per cluster, slip the fruit through the slit, and staple the bag shut.
• Remove bags just as fruit begins ripening.
• Bagging protects fruit without chemical sprays, even when infestations are severe.

What about pesticides?

• Insecticides are effective only when they are precisely timed to kill caterpillars just as they hatch from the egg stage.
• Hang a pheromone trap in your tree in March. Check it for moths every few days.
• Once moths are found and sunset temperatures exceed 62°F, start calculating degree-days following the instructions in Pest Notes: Codling Moth. Degree-days help you determine when eggs will hatch or when to start looking for “stings” on fruit that indicate larvae have hatched and are entering fruit.
• Start applying insecticides as soon as degree-day calculations indicate eggs are hatching (250-300 degree-days after moths are caught in traps) or as soon as you see stings.
• Use new stings or degree-day calculations to start sprays for second and third generations.
• Codling moth granulosis virus (sold as Cyd-X) is a biological pesticide that won’t harm beneficials or bees. Add 1% horticultural oil to increase effectiveness. Apply every 7 days after eggs hatch, at least 3 or 4 times per generation.
• Spinosad is a low-toxicity pesticide made more effective by adding 1% horticultural oil. Apply every 10 days after eggs hatch, or about 3 times per generation.

Minimize the use of pesticides that pollute our waterways. Use nonchemical alternatives or less toxic pesticide products whenever possible. Read product labels carefully and follow instructions on proper use, storage, and disposal.