L Y 
 
 October 1948 E-761 
 
 United States Department of Agriculture 
 Agricultural Research Administration 
 Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine 
 
 A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON SPRAYS TO DESTROY 
 OVERWINTERING CODLING MOTH LARVAE 
 
 By M. A. Yothere, Division of Fruit Insect Investigations 
 
 Treatments applied against the hibernating worms (Thacher 22.) were 
 among the earliest measures suggested for control of the codling moth 
 ( Carpocapsa pomonella (L. ))t 
 
 "All the rough bark should be carefully removed, and the trunk and 
 large branches should be thoroughly washed with Forsyth's composition or 
 a strong decoction of # tobacco with the addition of a small quantity of 
 quick lime, which should be applied to every crevice which can afford 
 shelter for insects or their eggs." 
 
 The wash suggested contained urine, soap suds, fresh cow dung, and 
 lime, in indefinite proportions. 
 
 Similar suggestions may have been made subsequently, from time to 
 time, but the older literature has not been systematically reviewed, 
 since the control of the codling moth in the hibernating stage does not 
 appear to have been developed to a practical point until the present 
 decade. 
 
 The earliest reference we find in recent literature to this method 
 of control is Jegen's (22) recommendation in Switzerland, that apple 
 trees be scraped, the debris burned, and the trees then sprayed with a 
 5-percent solution of soft soap. Lehman (2_£) > in Germany, advised 
 cleaning the dead bark, moss, and so forth, from the trees in winter, and 
 then painting them with a fairly thick lime wash containing 10 percent of 
 fruit-tree carbolineum. Maag (2£) , in Switzerland, stated that the two 
 winter sprays of real value to the fruit grower were lime-sulfur and fruit- 
 tree carbolineum of a reliable brand, which was very effective against 
 Carpocapsa pomonella . Other materials, he said, were quite as effective, 
 but more expensive. 1/ 
 
 Hough (22), in the United States, stated that oil sprays applied in 
 the dormant season were not effective in killing the worms in their 
 winter cocoons. Worms in their winter cocoons had been seen to survive 
 
 \j Several references, especially from England and Germany, refer 
 to carbolineum and dinitro-o-cresol winter sprays, but these materials 
 appear to have been used against insects other than the codling moth. 
 
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 100 percent a submergence of 15 hours in an oil spray (Medina oil) diluted 
 for winter spraying. Chandler (2), reporting on work done in the winter 
 of 1926-27, stated that boiled fish-oil soap emulsion up to 25 percent 
 of soap failed to kill cocooned overwintering larvae in laboratory tests. 
 McAlister (26) , reporting on laboratory tests made in 1927-28 with 12 
 formulas, found that undiluted kerosene and undiluted tetrachloroethane 
 killed 100 percent of the hibernating larvae cocooned between pieces of 
 bark, and that a 5-percent solution of tetrachloroethane killed 94 percent. 
 
 McAlister' s work was followed by that of Headlee (17, 18, 12, and 20), 
 in which he made tests on codling moth larvae cocooned on apple trees, 
 using Pineol- Soluble, one of the fractions obtained by distillation of 
 pine stumps, roots, and branches, treated with caustic soda to make it 
 miscible with water. When applied to apple tree trunks 10 inches in 
 diameter, late in March and early in April, at full strength, or diluted 
 with equal parts of water, it killed 100 percent of the larvae. 
 
 Cory and Sanders (12), in laboratory tests of 26 materials against 
 larvae cocooned in rolls of corrugated-paper bands dipped in the formu- 
 lations, found Pineol- Soluble plus paradichlorobenzene 1 to 7.5 and 1 
 to 2 and undiluted Pineol- Soluble the most effective, killing 87.5, 93.6, 
 and 99-6 percent, respectively. Paradichlorobenzene added to several 
 brands of oil emulsions and soluble oils did not increase their effec- 
 tiveness, but when added to tar washes and pure oils it apparently 
 increased their kill. 
 
 Thompson and Worthley (J6) , in blocks of orchard trees treated with 
 a blend of various fractions of steam-distilled pine oils called Hybrex, 
 which was applied with a brush to the bark of the trees, obtained a kill 
 of 95.8 percent, with a reduction of 33 to 67 percent of the first-brood 
 injuries. 
 
 Ginsburg (1£) , in tests of fumigants against overwintering larvae, 
 found them most susceptible to ethylene chlorohydrin and hydrocyanic 
 acid and the least to carbon bisulfide and ethyl acetate. 
 
 Paillot (Jl) , in France, reported that tar-distillate sprays, applied 
 just after the buds split in the spring, failed to give satisfactory 
 control of hibernating codling moth larvae. Spyer (2&) reported that in 
 Germany codling moth larvae, even when removed from their cocoons, were 
 very resistant to high concentrations of tar distillates. 
 
 Marshall (27) reviewed preliminary unpublished work done by Steiner 
 of Indiana, in which 2U materials were tested. He described tests of 
 treatments of cavities containing cocooned larvae, with paraffin, lime, 
 and alpha-naphthylamine. Miller (2°/) stated that codling moth larvae 
 could be controlled with a dormant spray, and that such a spray was 
 being patented (by him) .2/ 
 
 2/ Patent lists do not show grant of such a patent. 
 

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 Brandt (2) reported extensive practical use of steam for destroying 
 overwintering codling moth larvae on the trunks and crotches of apple 
 and pear trees in California. 
 
 In orchard experiments conducted by Gnadinger et al. (16) , it was 
 found that a pyrethrum-oil spray killed 100 percent of the overwintering 
 larvae on the trees after harvest. These investigators proposed 
 destroying the larvae in the upper two-thirds of the trees by treating 
 them with pyrethrum-oil applied by means of a hand-operated oiler, and 
 in the lower third by applying this material as a spray. United States 
 patent No. 2,267,150 was granted December 23, 1941, covering this method 
 of control of the overwintering larvae. 
 
 Ginsburg (1£) concluded that dichloroethyl ether was highly toxic 
 to the larvae at concentrations of 0.75 percent or higher under labora- 
 tory conditions, but that it failed to kill a sufficiently high per- 
 centage of the larvae in the orchard because of lack of penetration. 
 Kerosene at 17 percent or higher killed from 93 to 100 percent both in 
 the laboratory and in the orchard. Injury to the trees occurred only 
 
 when the kerosene was applied in the summer not when it was applied in 
 
 the spring. 
 
 Carlson and Mothers (.£) described and figured a mechanical timing 
 device which they developed and used in their laboratory tests of sprays 
 to kill codling moth larvae cocooned in grooved pupation sticks. 
 
 Heriot (21), in an orchard experiment involving 5«5 acres of 
 unsprayed trees, showed that a single dormant application of an oil 
 solution of dinitro-jD-cresol to trunks and main limbs was highly ef- 
 fective in reducing codling moth infestation at harvest. The oil carrier 
 injured the trees, however. Heriot also found that dinitro-o-cresol 
 oil residue persisted for at least 210 days to such an extent as to kill 
 full-grown larvae entering corrugated paper bands treated with it. 
 
 Yothers et al.(^2) , in an orchard test with 23 formulations, 
 obtained a high kill of hibernating larvae on apple trees with nicotine 
 sulfate, pyrethrum extract, dichloroethyl ether, and 4,6-dinitro-o-cresol. 
 Each of these materials was prepared in an emulsion with stove oil and a 
 penetrating material. Owing to the scarcity of all these toxicants 
 except the dinitro compound during the war, work was concentrated upon 
 it. Used at 3 or A pounds per 100 gallons emulsified in 10 or 15 gallons 
 of stove oil (32 sec. Saybolt at 100° F.) with suitable emulsifiers and 
 penetrants, it gave kills of 91 to 100 percent in a number of orchard 
 tests (Yothers et al. 42) • This spray was found to be toxic to apple 
 buds even in the dormant stage, and it was therefore recommended only as 
 a dormant spray to be used on the trunks and lower scaffold branches. 
 
 Alexander (1) tested a pyrethnun-kerosene solution applied on the 
 rough bark of the trunks and lower branches of apple trees while the 
 trees were still dormant. The dropped and picked fruit from untreated 
 trees for the season had more than four times as many worm-injured apples 
 as did trees that had no other codling moth sprays. The spray caused no 
 
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 apparent injury, and showed no repellent action to the larvae. It was 
 suggested that the use of this spray should obviate the necessity for 
 much of the scraping of loose bark from the trees, and that it should be 
 effective against the larvae hibernating in prop poles. 
 
 Newcomer et al. (,20) gave a brief discussion of the work with trunk 
 sprays to destroy overwintering larvae which was in progress at the 
 laboratory of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine at Yakima, 
 Wash. 
 
 Robertson (,22),. reporting on work by Venables and Heriot of British 
 Columbia, stated that sprays containing kerosene, diesel oil, and 
 dinitro-o-cresol were successful in destroying overwintering codling moth 
 larvae on the trunks and rough bark of apple trees. The oils injured the 
 trees temporarily but they recovered the following season. 
 
 Carlson jgt al. (%) found that codling moth cocoons, spun without 
 extraneous materials — wood, bark, and so forth — contained about 25 percent 
 of wax and fat, while those containing extraneous materials averaged about 
 12.5 percent of these substances. 
 
 In 1944 Carlson and Yothers (£) gave directions for the preparation 
 and use of the dinitro-o-cresol concentrated tree-trunk sprays. The 
 authors stated that at least one manufacturer was preparing a commercial 
 product based upon their formula. 
 
 Yothers and Carlson (^8, 2$) reported results of 3 years of orchard 
 tests with dinitro-o-cresol on 2 to 4 acres each year. In the six tests 
 kills of 84 to 95 percent were obtained, and in small-scale tests (3 to 
 5 trees each) kills of 85 to 99 percent. They reported that several 
 hundred acres of apple and pear orchards in the Yakima Valley and else- 
 where had been sprayed with thedLnitro-o-cresol tree-trunk spray. 
 
 Carlson and Yothers (6) corroborated the findings of Heriot (21) 
 that the residue of the dinitro spray is highly persistent on apple 
 trees, killing considerable numbers of larvae as long as 14 months after 
 it had been applied. 
 
 In the Report of the Chief of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant 
 Quarantine for 1944 (37) t reference is made to experiments against the 
 codling moth on apples in Washington as follows* "Field tests with a 
 dinitro-o-cresol spray to destroy hibernating codling moth larvae... 
 killed BZ to 94 percent of the larvae and reduced the subsequent infes- 
 tation in fruit 25 to 50 percent." Chandler ( j.0) . in tests of dinitro- 
 o-cresol and either fuel oil and fish-oil soap or Dendrol (a miscible oil 
 for dormant sprays), obtained a maximum kill of 71 percent of hibernating 
 larvae. Gardner (j,j) » in his report on work of Venables and Heriot in 
 British Columbia, stated that a light petroleum emulsion of dinitro-£- 
 cresol or dinitro-o-cyclohexylphenol applied to trees in early spring 
 killed up to 80 percent of the hibernating larvae and reduced the infesta- 
 tion at harvest by 50 percent. The treatment was recommended to supple- 
 ment summer sprays. Robertson (22), also summarizing Venable's and 
 
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 Heriot's work in British Columbia, stated that 30 to 66 percent of over- 
 wintering larvae were destroyed by spraying with a mixture of 1$ gallons 
 of diesel oil and 3 pounds of dinitro-jj-cresol per 100 gallons. 
 
 Yothers and Carlson (40) » in laboratory experiments, found that 
 codling moths developing from larvae that had survived sublethal con- 
 centrations of 4>6-dinitro-o-cresol sprays deposited fewer eggs than did 
 moths developing from untreated larvae, and also that the eggs deposited 
 by these surviving moths were less viable than are normal eggs. 
 
 Carlson and Yothers (2) reported on preliminary tests for destroy- 
 ing full-grown codling moth larvae with trunk sprays on apple trees in 
 the summer. The regular (penetrant) formula of dinitro-o-cresol killed 
 82 percent, and DDT killed 85 percent of the naked larvae placed on 
 recently sprayed trees, 68 and 28 percent, respectively, after 31 days, 
 and 79 and 20 percent 61 days after treatment. 
 
 Carlson and Yothers (8) reported the use of a penetrant aid, Celite 
 209 (a finely divided diatomaceous earth), which apparently served as a 
 deposit to faclliate penetration of the dinitro spray through the waxy 
 cocoons. 
 
 Marshall (28) reported that DDT-oil in a trunk spray was consider- 
 able less effective than dinitro-^-cresol-oil against mature hibernating 
 codling moth larvae. 
 
 Chandler (11) reported a test on 30 acres in 1946 using dinitro-o- 
 cresol and a proprietary oil emulsion. The final percentage of wormy 
 fruit was 0.5 in the "eradi cant "-sprayed plot and 2.6 in the check. The 
 heavy spray schedule in both plots "might have controlled the insects 
 regardless of dormant sprays." 
 
 In 1947 Yothers and Carlson (^1) prepared instructions for the 
 preparation and use of their tree-trunk spray. The authors stated that 
 in several seasons' tests in large-scale orchard plots this spray gave 
 80 to 95 percent kill of all overwintering worms on the sprayed parts of 
 the trees. However, even when the trunk spray is applied, regular summer 
 sprays will be necessary, but the continued use of trunk sprays should 
 reduce the number of summer sprays. 
 
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 Literature Cited 
 
 (1) Alexander, C. P. 
 
 194-3. Department of Entomology. Mass. Agr. Expt. Sta. Ann. Rpt. 
 1942, Bui, 398: 34-40. 
 
 (2) Brandt, R. 0. 
 
 1938. Lake County pest control. Calif. Dept. Agr. (Mo.) Bui. 27: 
 414-415. 
 
 (3) Carlson, F. W«, Cassil, C. C. , and Yothers, M. A. 
 
 1944* Ether extract content of codling moth cocoons* Jour. Econ. 
 Ent. 37i 711. 
 
 (4) __ and Mothers, Id. A. 
 
 1941* A mechanical timing device for laboratory spraying tests* 
 0. S. Bur. Ent. and Plant Quar. ET-179. 2 pp., illus. 
 ^rocessed^ 
 
 (5) _, _»»«»__. a & d lothers, M. A* 
 
 1944* Methods of making a concentrated trunk spray for destroying 
 codling moth larvae. U. S. Bur. Ent. and Plant Quar* 
 E-629, 2 pp* ^rocessedj/ 
 
 (6) _____ and Mothers, M. A* 
 
 1945* The persistence of toxicity to codling moth larvae of 
 
 4,6-dinitro-jO-cresol applied as a tree trunk spray. Jour* 
 Econ. Ent. 38 i 723* 
 
 (7) ______ and lothers, M. A* 
 
 1946. Dinitro-o-cresol and DDT to control full-grown codling moth 
 larvaeT Jour* Econ. Ent. 39t 408-409* 
 
 (8) and Yothers,, M. A* 
 
 1946* A penetrant aid for codling moth trunk sprays. Jour* Econ* 
 Ent. 39: 409-410. 
 
 (9) Chandler, S. C. 
 
 1928. Codling moth hibernation studies. Jour. Econ. Ent. 21: 
 315-318. 
 
 (10) 
 
 1945. Codling moth studies in 1944* Trans. 111. Hort. Soc. (1944) 
 78: 125-139. 
 
 (ID 
 
 1947. Codling moth, mites and leaf rollers. Trans. 111. State 
 Hort. Soc. (1946) 80: 179-139* 
 
 (12) Cory, E. N., and Sanders, P. D. 
 
 1932. Tests against the overwintering stage of the codling moth. 
 Jour. Econ. Ent. 25: 566-568. 
 
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 (13) Gardner, J. G. 
 
 1945. Fruit Insect Investigations. Report of the Minister of 
 Agriculture for the Dominion of Canada, 1944-45 1 58. 
 
 (14) Ginsburg, J. M. 
 
 1933. Laboratory tests with various fumigants on codling moth 
 larvae. Jour. Agr. Res. 46: 1131-1136. 
 
 (15) 
 
 1941* Experiments with chemicals on codling moth larvae in the 
 dormant season. Jour. Econ. Ent. 34: 263-268. 
 
 (16) Gnadinger, C. B., Moore, J, B., and Coulter, R. W. 
 
 1940. Experiments with pyre thrum for the control of the codling 
 moth (Carpocapsa pomonella L.). Jour. Econ. Ent. 33: 
 143-153. 
 
 (17) Headlee, T. J. 
 
 1928. Codling moth. N. J. Agr. Expt. Sta. Ann. Rpt. 1928s 139- 
 145. 
 
 (18) 
 
 1929. Codling moth. N. J. Agr. Expt. Sta. Ann. Rpt. 1929* 143- 
 145. 
 
 (19) 
 
 (20) 
 
 1930. Study of agents for destroying overwintering codling moth 
 larvae. N. J. Agr. Expt. Sta. Ann. Rpt. 1930: 142-145. 
 
 1933. Orchard insect investigations. N. J. Agr. Expt. Sta. Bien. 
 Rpt. 1932-1933: 38. 
 
 (21) Heriot, A. D. 
 
 1942. Recent progress in codling moth control in British Columbia, 
 I. Killing the mature larvae. Sci. Agr. 22: 571-576. 
 
 (22) Hough, W. S. 
 
 1927. The codling moth and its control. Va. State Hort. Soc. 
 Proc. 31: 128-130. 
 
 (23) Jegen, G. 
 
 1919. Die Schadlingsbekampfung in Winter. Schweiz. Ztchr. f. 
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 (24) Lehmann, H. 
 
 1922. Die Obstunde. Cydia ( Carpocapsa ) pomonella L. Heft 1. 
 
 Ihr Bekampfung auf wissenschaftlicher Grundlage. 69 pp. 
 Neustadt. 
 
 (25) Maag, R. 
 
 1923. Ueber Obstbaum Karbolineum und andere Vinterspritzmittel. 
 
 Schwe: z. Ztschr. f . Obst u. Weinbau 32: 53-54. 
 
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 (26) McAlister, L. C, Jr. 
 
 1929. Preliminary report on control of hibernating codling moth 
 larvae. Jour. Econ. Ent. 22: 424-425. 
 
 (27) Marshall, G. E. 
 
 1935. Preventing spring emergence of codling moth from inaccessi- 
 
 ble places on trees. Jour. Econ. Ent. 28: 120-122. 
 
 (28) Marshall, J. W. 
 
 1946. DDT investigations in control of orchard pests in British 
 Columbia. Wash. State Hort. Assoc. Proc. 42: 66-70. 
 
 (29) Miller, I. M. 
 
 1936. History of the codling moth. Better Fruit 31: 15. 
 
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 and Carlson, F. W. 
 
 1943* Controlling the codling moth with non-arsenicals. Wash. 
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 (31) Paillot, A. 
 
 1934* Nouvelles observations sur le traitement d'hiver des 
 
 arbres frui tiers par les emulsions d'huile d' anthracene. 
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 (33) 
 
 1945* (Codling moth control.) Brit. Columbia Dept. Agr. Ann. 
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 (34) Spyer, W. „ 
 
 1934. Obstbaum Karbolineum als Schadlingsbekampfungsmittel. 
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 (35) Thacher, James 
 
 1825. The American orchardist, Ed. 2, 235 pp. Plymouth, Mass. 
 
 (36) Thompson, F. M., Jr., and Worthley, H. N. 
 
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 (37) United States r areau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine. 
 
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 (38) lothers, M. A., and Carlson, F. W. 
 
 1944. Dinitro-o-cresol trunk spray against overwintering codling 
 moth larvae. Wash. State Hort. Assoc. Proc. 40: 57-60. 
 
 
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 (39) Xothers, M. A., and Carlson, F. W. 
 
 194.$. Three years' of orchard tests of 4.,6-dlnitro-o-cresol 
 
 against overwintering codling moth larvae. Jour. Econ. 
 Ent. 38: 723-724. 
 
 (40) ____ and Carlson, F. W. 
 
 1946. Effect of sublethal concentrations of dinitro-^»cresol on 
 
 the codling moth. Jour. Econ. Ent. 39* 407-408. 
 
 (41) and Carlson, F. W. 
 
 1947. A spray for destroying overwintering larvae of the codling 
 
 moth on apple tree trunks. U, S. Bur. Ent. and Plant 
 Quar. E-712, 8 pp. /Processed^ 
 
 (42) Carlson, F. W., and Cassil, C. C. 
 
 1942. Sprays to kill overwintering codling moth larvae. Jour. 
 
 Econ. Ent. 35* 450-451. 
 
 (43) Carlson, F. W. , and Cassil, C. C. 
 
 1943. Tests of 4,6-dinitro-o-cresol emulsion against overwintering 
 
 codling moth larvae. Jour. Econ. Ent. 36* 882-884. 
 
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UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 
 
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