THE FOE OF THE CODLIN MOTH.

Gisborne Times, Volume V, Issue 70, 26 March 1901, Page 3

THE FOE OF THE CODLIN MOTH.

Probably if tho extent of the damage annually inflicted upon the apple orchards of New Zealand could be accurately estimated we should all bo very much surprised at the largeness of tho sum. Tho injury is greater in the North Island than in the South, because, for one thing, the pest has been longer established there than here, and secondly, because it is probable that tho warmer climate allows for the hatching out of two, if not three, broods during tho season, whereas, so far as is known, the insect lias but one family hero in the year. Great efforts have' been made to exterminate the moth, in tho way of spraying or dressing tho trees with some noxious mixture in the autumn or winter, bandaging the trunks so as to intercept tho ascending caterpillar, and picking up all fallen fruit so as to leave it no more ground for attack than possible. All add to tho labor and cost of growing apples, and, more than that, all arc more or less useless, for an Auckland contemporary reports that the insect is still present in practically undiminished numbers. The wish that was father of the thought, no doubt, inspired many Auckland applegrowers to believe that if Mother Nature was but allowed to have her own way sho would in time produce a counter-balance to the moth. In consequence several orchardists who had previously done all they could to get the better of the moth have lately neglected their trees, All their exertions had boon of no avail, and apparently they resolved to give Nature a chance. It was rather a dangerous doctrine, and one which, if applied, say to tho rabbit pest, would long ago have half

ruined New Zealand. But in this ease it seems to havo been highly successful. It has been noticed that these neglected orchards, so far from becoming the mere playgrounds of the codlin moth, have of late been producing increasingly large' crops of clean fruit, while tho orchards all round, in which the processes of spraying, dressing, and bandaging were still being carried on, wore as badly infested as ever. Captain Broun, the Auckland entomologist, heard of this, and promptly diagnosed a parasite of the larvae of the moth, but no parasite rewarded his researches. Subsequently, Mr Boucher, a Government fruit expert, went to inspect one of these clean neglected orchards. His investigations showed him an unusually large number of empty codlin moth egg-shells, and from this discovery it was but a short step to find that the eggs were parasited. “In some instances, he found that one codlin moth egg contained two eggs of some parasitic fly. ■ A number of the eggs were carefully gathered, and taken to his quarters, whore ho has been successful in hatching one

living fly, which he is unable to name. It is exceedingly small, very active, and has remarkably large wings for such' a tiny creature.” At present nothing further is known about this fly, whether it is a native insect or an imported one, or, indeed, whether it is the true parasite of the codlin moth, and, therefore, worth thousands of pounds a year to the apple growers. This remains to be proved ; in tho meantime it seems probable that the treatment designed for the destruction of the codlin moth is unhealthy for its natural enemy, and if the latter is to havo a chance the dressing and spraying of trees must stop.—Christchurch Press.