Cydia pomonella (Linnaeus, 1758)
Codling Moth
 (previously known as Dicraniana pomonella)
GRAPHOLITINI,   OLETHREUTINAE,   TORTRICIDAE,   TORTRICOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


(Photo: Don Herbison-Evans)

This Caterpillar is off-white with a dark brown head. The caterpillar is a worldwide pest. It is a grub that bores into the fruit of various crops, including :

  • Apple ( Malus pumila, ROSACEAE ),
  • Quince ( Cydonia oblonga, ROSACEAE ),
  • Pear ( Pyrus communis, ROSACEAE ), and
  • Walnut ( Juglans regia, JUGLANDACEAE ).

    The caterpillar grows to a length of about 1 cm.


    (Photo: courtesy of Wendy Moore)

    The adult moth varies from grey to brown, and has reflective scales on the wings. The forewings each have a complex pattern, which is darker towards the margin. The wingspan is about 2 cms. The pheromones of this species have been identified.

    It has been thought to originate from Europe or the Middle East, and is now a pest all over the world, including:

  • Canada,
  • England,
  • New Zealand,
  • USA,

    as well as in Australia including

  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Australian Capital Territory,
  • Victoria,
  • Tasmania,
  • South Australia, and
  • previously in Western Australia.


    caught on commercial Codling Moth pheromone sticky paper
    (Photo: courtesy of Ian Baird, O'Connor, Australian Capital Territory)

    Control of the species is possible using:

  • a spray of Kaolin Clay,
  • Pheromone Traps,
  • a Granulovirus ( BACULOVIRIDAE ),
  • the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis ( BACILLACEAE ),
  • the nematode Steinernema carpocapsae ( STEINERNEMATIDAE ),
  • the egg parasite wasp Trichogramma planteri ( TRICHOGRAMMATIDAE ),
  • the parasitic wasp Mastrus ridibundus ( ICHNEUMONIDAE ).

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, pp. 57-58, 62, 68, 280.

    Carl Linnaeus,
    Insecta Lepidoptera,
    Systema Naturae,
    Volume 1, Edition 10 (1760), Class 5, Part 3, p. 538, No. 270.

    Peter B. McQuillan, Jan A. Forrest, David Keane, & Roger Grund,
    Caterpillars, moths, and their plants of Southern Australia,
    Butterfly Conservation South Australia Inc., Adelaide (2019), p. 66.

    A.H. Nicholas, W.G. Thwaite & R.N. Spooner-Hart,
    Arthropod abundance in an Australian apple orchard under mating disruption and supplementary insecticide treatments for codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Torticidae),
    Australian Journal of Entomology,
    Volume 38, part 1 (January 1999), pp. 23-29.

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    (updated 3 April 2013, 3 December 2018, 27 September 2020)