The apple-worm, which every apple eater has found many times in the
apple, is the child of the codling-moth. See _b_, fig. 9. It is a
scourge all over the apple-growing district. It destroys or reduces the
value of the apple crop many millions of dollars annually.
[Illustration: FIG. 9. _a_, Female Codling-moth. _b_, Larva of same in
apple.]
The parent--adult insect, or moth--see _a_, fig. 9, is a small moth with
a spread of wings three-fourths of an inch, the first pair marked with
wavy lines of gray and brown, with a large, oval brown spot, streaked
coppery, on hinder margin. The hind wings are yellowish brown. These
moths appear, and begin to lay on the surface of the leaves, in the
calyx, or on the surface of the apple, about the 1st of May. The eggs
hatch in about one week, and the young worm immediately begins to burrow
into the apple, working its way to the center, where it works around the
core, gaining strength and size for about three weeks, when it leaves
the apple and seeks a hiding place in which to spin its cocoon, the
favorite place being under projections of the rough bark of the tree.
When first hatched these worms are small, hardly one-eighth of an inch
long, white, with a black head and shoulders. When mature, the body is
pinkish and the head and shoulders brown. The adult, _a_, fig. 9, issues
from the cocoon in about two weeks, appearing near June 15. They
commence at once to lay eggs. The worms of this, the second brood, live
in the apple all winter, and it is these that disgust the apple eater
and cut the profits of the orchardist.
_Remedies._ The same spray as for canker-worms, used just after the
petals of the blossom fall. No eggs are deposited earlier than this. At
this time the calyx cup is open, and a little poison in it is apt to
prove fatal to the infant worm. In a few days after the egg is laid the
calyx closes, and no spray will reach the worm. Remember, this early
spraying does away with the parents of the _second_ brood, and hence
should not be neglected. Bands of burlaps, paper or other material,
loosely tied about the tree before June 1, make attractive places for
the worms to pupate in. These bands should be examined often, say
weekly, and all worms killed. Fallen fruit should be gathered and fed to
stock. Cellars, caves and fruit houses should be thoroughly cleaned and
fumigated and the cleanings burned every spring, as many thousands of
moths are wintered over in them.