I have used coddling moth traps from PVFS, but I bought the intercept A traps. I don't think the males really care about the size of the holes, though. Coddling moths are very small critters, I don't think they are even a centimeter long. Is there a sticky surface on the inside of the trap? The lure gets the males to go inside and get stuck on the sticky surface inside. Then he can't fertilize any females, so they can't lay eggs. Or, some people use them just to see how big an infestaion they have, or when to time sprays. I would think that if the kits were sold as they are, that they were designed to work, or PVFS would be getting them all back from angry customers. Actually, when my Intercept A traps got too old, I made acceptable traps from old milk cartons, and replaced the lures and sticky boards each year. Their large holes just made them more likely to launch off into space in a big South Dakota wind! But I still trapped moths just fine.

As I read Aptiv's web site it seems that these are monitoring traps. What they sell for control is called "Last Call".

Jerry:

Have you considered bagging your apples in ziplock sandwich bags for protection against codling moth? Bags are 100% effective against codling moth, as well as plum curculio and apple maggot fly, and are a whole lot cheaper than traps with pheromone lures. Nothing to renew, they are good all season long, and apples kept in the bags after harvest keep longer without skin shriveling.

This will be my 4th year of bagging apples, and I have yet to see any downside. I have already prepared 900 bags from Wal-Mart for this season, and may buy another 5 boxes or so, depending on fruit set. Last season I installed 1,200, and it was the best and by far the highest quality apple crop I have ever had. After a couple of pre-thinning sprays with Imidan against plum curculio, I do no further spraying on the apples all season long.

Bag preparation consists of opening the bags, slitting off the plastic above the zipper after opening, then folding the bags at the bottom to simultaneously cut off both bottom corners. It is done with a small scissors.

I can bag every apple in my orchard of 30 trees (after thinning, of course) for about the cost of one trap, and the bags really work, which cannot be said for the traps.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Well, so far no one has said anything bad about using the Intercept D Delta traps for codling moth control, but no one is using them either. Hmmmm.

Don, I used some cloth bags a couple years ago, and am thinking of using them again. I thought that plastic would be bad. Besides possibly coming off and blowing all over the yard, I thought that fruit needs to breathe, and that enclosing them in plastic would cause them to ripen too quickly, and I'd be harvesting bags of rotten pear juice.

But maybe this is because I don't understand your "bag preparation" at all. Please click on the link to see the picture I drew and tell us what I did wrong. What part of the bag does the stem go through. If the stem goes through the zipper, meaning that the zipper is not completely closed, I would think that the zipper would come unzipped after several windy days.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:65591}}

I just received this from the "Chemical Production Manager" at APTIV:

I just spoke with our President and Chief Entomologist, and he informed me
of the following:

"The Intercept D is actually perfect for the codling moth, and has been
proven to be a trap with higher capture rates than many other traps. The
moths fly through many small opening when negotiating foliage in trees, and
this is no problem. In comparative testing with a range of different traps,
the opening in the Intercept D traps creates a natural plume shape for the
pheromone odor trail that is more natural than the plume coming out of traps
with a wider opening. The is also the reason for the Intercept W-CM sticky
liner (not ordered by many customers) which is designed to have a much
smaller opening than a standard Intercept-W liner. For CM, this is an
important issue, not so with oriental fruit moth.

I hope this explanation is sufficient. Otherwise, you could always use a
standard Intercept-W, or the large sized Intercept-ST (plastic delta)."

So, he's saying that even though the Type "A" traps have been "developed using extensive wind tunnel studies to determine the optimal plume structure of the released pheromone", the type D is better for ^codling^ moths, and indeed I confirmed that the type W does come in a special version for ^codling^ moths. It never would have occurred to me that a male codling moth would detect the shape of a plume, but I suppose it makes sense that the hole in the trap be not too much larger than a female codling moth.

So, I'll use the traps as is. The expert has spoken.

Don, I'm still interested in your plastic bagging.

Jerry:

The illustration in your link is exactly how I prepare the bags. The stem goes through the center of the zipper, which is closed up tightly against the stem on both sides. You must run your fingers down the zipper to make sure it is completely closed except for the stem, and there are no "snaps" left in it, or the bag can come off. The bags I use, from Wal-Mart or Safeway, have double zipper channels that do not open after sealing. Some other brands have only a single zipper channel.

The bags do not come off and blow around the yard, and I have some pretty heavy summer thunderstorms here. Of 1,200 bags I installed last season, maybe four or five came off. The fruit does not have to "breathe" in the bags, and it ripens at exactly the same rate as unbagged fruit. I bag pears as well as apples in plastic, but use shoe store try-on nylon "footies" for peaches, tying them with a single knot over the twigs and branches. When I tried plastic on peaches, I had trouble with earwigs getting in the bags and damaging the peaches, but earwigs do not bother the pome fruits. Also, peaches do not have the proper stems for plastic, but work fine with the footies, which are tied on.

If you want to keep fiddling with traps, that's ok with me, but if you try bagging just one tree in plastic, I think you will see the difference. I acknowledge that the work of bagging is front loaded at the beginning of the season, but after that you can relax.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Don,

So why do you cut off the bottom two corners of the bags? Doesn't that leave holes for codling moths to fly into?

Regarding traps: I've already bought them for this year, and last year was so bad that this year (and I've been through about 15 years with my trees) that I'm going to do both bagging and traps.

Regarding those 1200 bags, I must say that you are amazing. I'm 51 years old, 155 lb and 6'1", work out in Masters swimming 6 hours per week, ride my bike wherever I go, and still enjoy climbing in trees, but I wow don't know if I could put 1200 bags in 30 trees!

Jerry:

Flying insects, in fact insects of any kind cannot enter the cut-off lower corners of the bags. Insects evolved before the invention of the sandwich bag and they are not prepared to deal with it. Even if a genius codling moth tried it, her little feet could not gain purchase on the slick plastic to enter successfully. Earwigs can, occasionally, enter through the top around the stem, but they do no damage to pome fruits. Failure to cut off the corners can allow an accumulation of water that could, eventually, pull the bag off by its sheer weight. Moisture in the bags does not affect the apples, but you do not want them sitting in water either. In my experience, apples can become larger in the bags, although its hard to know how much of that can be attributed to thinning. I had some real whoppers last season.

At 51, you are still a pretty young duckling. I am in my 70th year, and no longer climb around the trees like a squirrel. A fall now could mean calling 911. I stick pretty close to my stable orchard ladder (Stokes, made in California), and only venture out on a limb when there is no alternative. It helps to keep your weight down, as you are doing. I am retired, so have no urgent obligations, and am able to spread bag installation over about ten days. Then there is the peach installation, which will surely total over 600 this season if I have a decent fruit set. I have to admit I dream a little about bags during this period.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

So this is all interesting. Those lures are certainly costly. I'm not sure that I could bag the fruit on my standard overgrown tree, but I certainly would with a newer smaller tree. What a labor of love! I may redesign my milk carton traps as well. Thanks.

Has anyone tried a double sided tape around the base of the tree to trap codling moth? This helped when I was trying to save Oak trees from the gypsy moth.

Thanks, Cary

Cary:

Gypsy moth infestations arrive at trees as caterpillars, then crawl up the trunks to eat the foliage.

Codling moths are not interested in the foliage, but the apples themselves. They arrive as airborne troops, adult moths that fly in to lay eggs on the apples. Codling moths would not even notice your double-sided tape at the base of the tree. They have to be dealt with by spraying, traps, or, as I do, plastic sandwich bags.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

One time when I bought traps I the retailer put in a piece of paper which advised me to wrap the trunk of my tree in corrugated cardboard. Maybe the authors supposed that moth larvae would hang out inside the cardboard, between the corrugations, or else the adult moths would want to live or hibernate inside there. I tried it once but didn't find any. I think that Don is correct. I understand that their eggs are laid on the fruit, and they stay inside the fruit (or crawl into an adjacent one in the same cluster) until they can fly. They wouldn't have any need to crawl up the trunk. And once they can fly, they've got plenty of places to go.

I noticed it was mentioned after thinning. And 10 days to do... what is the correct timing of putting on the bags?

I will be using them on asian pears and the bloom just dropped.

How late is too late and how critical is timing?

According to a publication from University of California at Santa Cruz, you should put the bags on "in June", "after the last threat of spring rain has passed". Heh. They recommend paper lunch bags, which is fine here in California but those of us who have lived through summer thunderstorms back east understand why jellyman over in Virginia uses plastic bags. I'm sticking with my 200 reuseable cloth bags.

I get the impression that, neglecting practical factors, the answer is "as soon as possible", but taking practicality into consideration, "when you do your second and final thinning" seems to be the answer.

This 4-page publication has the most detailed information on codling moth I've ever seen. There's also an html page on their site with the same text. But the pdf, although not as convenient to read, is better because it has pictures which the html page does not.

Here is a link that might be useful: UCSC Codling Moth Recommendations, 4-page pdf