Codling Moth
A small gray moth whose caterpillar tunnels straight to the core of the fruit. The tell is a hole in the side or the blossom end packed with crumbly reddish-brown droppings.
Pest checklist
Four things to look for. If most of them match what you are holding, you are in the right place.
What gets rid of them
Gentlest option first. For most backyard cases the first one is enough, so try these in order and stop as soon as it works. If you do spray something, the product label tells you how — please read the notice further down.
1Bag the fruit
Slip a paper or nylon footie bag over each young fruit about four to six weeks after bloom, once fruit is half an inch to an inch across, and close it around the stem.
fruit protection bags apple codling mothTry this first2Pick up the drops weekly
Gather and remove every fallen and stung fruit once a week from June on, so the larva inside never becomes the next generation.
3Hang a pheromone trap
Put a trap up at bloom to see when moths are flying. It is the only honest way to know if a spray is worth making.
codling moth pheromone trap4Spray only at egg hatch
If you spray, use a codling moth granulosis virus or a spinosad product timed to hatch and repeat on the label's schedule.
spinosad garden insect spray5Thin to one fruit per cluster
Touching fruits give larvae a protected place to enter, so thin clusters down when the fruit is small.
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Which plants get codling moth
Every plant we cover that gets codling moth, grouped by type — tap any one to open its page. A note beside a plant came from that plant’s own entry, because the same pest can be a minor nuisance on one plant and a serious problem on another. Plenty of plants we do not cover get it too.
Plant families hit hardest
Related plants often share the same problems, so if one plant in a family has it, check the others. The largest group here is Rosaceae, with 5 of the 5 affected plants.
- Rosaceae5 plants
When to treat
This is not a treat-on-sight pest. Sprays only work in the short window when eggs hatch, and that window is set by pheromone trap catches and degree-day counts, so hang a trap at bloom and time from the first steady catch. Bagging fruit and picking up drops need no timing at all.
Timing only — the label is the law
This page tells you when to watch for codling moth and when treating is worth considering. It is not a recommendation to apply any particular product. Read and follow the product label before you spray — under federal law the label is the legal instruction, and using a pesticide against it is illegal.
- Check the pre-harvest interval. Every product that’s cleared for an edible crop sets a minimum number of days between spraying and picking. Find it on the label before you spray anything you intend to eat.
- Check the re-entry interval before you or anyone else works in the treated area again, and use the protective equipment the label names.
- Confirm the product is registered for your crop in your state. This page groups many different crops together, and a product legal on one of them is not legal on all of them — state registrations differ too. Your state pesticide agency or local extension office can confirm both.
- Rates and mixing instructions come from the label, never from us. We don’t publish them because they differ by product and formulation.
Other problems on the same plants
If a plant gets codling moth, these are the problems it most often gets as well, so they are worth checking for while you are out there. They tend to appear together; one does not cause another.