Codling Moth Larva Identification Guide

Key Visual Features

The codling moth larva is a small caterpillar best known for developing inside fruit, so its presence is often first noticed through the damage and entry hole it leaves rather than the larva itself.

• Body color: Pinkish-white to cream when mature, sometimes with a slight yellowish tint, and a smooth, unmarked body.
• Head: Brown to dark brown, clearly contrasting with the pale body.
• Body shape: Cylindrical and slightly tapered, with the segments faintly visible through the skin.
• Size: Reaches about 0.5-0.75 inch (12-20 mm) at full growth.
• Entry/exit signs: A small hole in the fruit surface, often surrounded by a ring of reddish-brown frass (excrement) pushed out of the tunnel, is a strong sign of codling moth activity even before the larva is seen.

Where and When You'll See It

Codling moth larvae are found wherever apple and pear trees grow, and they will also use other pome fruit such as quince. They occur across most temperate fruit-growing regions of North America. Larvae are active from late spring through fall, tunneling into developing fruit shortly after it forms, with the larva typically only visible if the fruit is cut open or the tunnel is followed from its entry hole.

Similar-Looking Larvae

• Plum curculio larva: Also develops inside tree fruit, but is a legless, grub-like beetle larva rather than a true caterpillar with legs and prolegs, giving it a very different body shape when compared side by side.
• Oriental fruit moth larva: Very similar pinkish coloring and size, and also bores into fruit and shoots; the two can be difficult to separate without close inspection of fine anatomical details, though oriental fruit moth larvae more often attack shoot tips in addition to fruit.
• Apple maggot larva: A legless fly larva (a small white to cream maggot) rather than a caterpillar, and produces winding trails through the fruit flesh rather than a single central tunnel.

Quick ID Checklist

• Small, pinkish-white to cream caterpillar with a contrasting brown head
• True legs and prolegs present (unlike legless grub or maggot look-alikes)
• Found tunneled inside apples, pears, or quince
• Entry hole on fruit surface often marked by a ring of reddish-brown frass
• Active from late spring through fall on pome fruit trees