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CODLING MOTH
The Coddling Moth pest is often impossible to detect until you take a bite
into an apple or pear and see the hole made by the maggot in the
flesh - hopefully the maggot is nearer the centre of the fruit,
because if not, it's probably now in your mouth! The Codling Moth lays its eggs on the surface of the developing fruit in June
time, these hatch out and then then tunnel into the centre. The
caterpillar is fully fed around August, so it eats it's way out
of the fruit and spends it's winter in loose flakes of bark on
the tree trunk. A truly repulsive pest!
How to Treat Codling Moth A further preventative measure consists of scraping off loose bark
(only the loose bits, not all) in early July, and then tying
sacking around the trunk. The idea behind this is that the
caterpillars will make their way down the trunk in August time
and attempt to over winter in the sacking. Remove and burn the
sacking in November time to destroy the caterpillars. END OF CODLING MOTH ARTICLE GO
TO THE GARDEN PEST AND DISEASE MAIN PAGE FOR
If you are plagued by the Codling Moth, take a trip to the local garden
centre and purchase one 'pheromone trap' - one trap will do the
job for as many as three or four trees. Hang the trap in one
tree - pheromone is the scent given off by the female moth
which attracts the male moth indicating that it is ready for a
bit of 'nooky'! The male Codling Moths fly into the trap, stick onto the
paper in it, resulting in no 'nooky' that night! In scientific
tests, this has reduced the number of fertile eggs laid by 80%.
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