What’s chomping on my apples?

Hi-

We live in the Seattle area and have several apples trees that we planted three years ago. The trees are about 8 feet tall but still babies—this was the first year they produced.

Anyhow, I think we may have apple maggots? I setup those red sticky balls half way through the season, maybe too late or they aren’t the solution.

A lot of the apples seem to have brown gumpnthat comes from the center stem part on the bottom while the other big holes are on the side.

I’m trying to be organic but lay it on me, if we need to bust out some sprays let me know.

Thanks!

It looks like bird damage to me, maybe wasp damage.

Is it on a small number of fruit?

It's certainly something that has burrowed it's way in/out all that brown is the frass (droppings) left behind. If those were my apples here that would be Codling Moth damage There's several organic controls available, but you do need to work out exactly what bug is causing your issue for the control to be effective.

Between our three trees we only had about 20 apples. I would guess about 50% of them got hit.

We do have a bunch of wasps or yellow jackets or whatever they are called around here. Most of the time we try and eat outside anywhere at our house or in the area those little suckers close in and ruin things.

I will have to look into this, I never thought about them eating apples. Thanks

it might be a good idea to learn to identify whatever it is, like the wasps or yellow jackets they are different and with a little patience and some research you can learn what they are.
maybe you could put some type of sticky traps in your apple trees to try and catch whatever is visiting them them you can try and identify the bugs or whatever gets stuck in sticky trap.

I'm in the same area and yes, this area has a very huge apple maggot problem.  I've lived in many places with apple trees in Snoho County and always had apple maggots get to the apples. There used to be big signs along the freeways that said "Apple maggot quarantine area..." like the one I've linked but I've noticed in the past few years that they've removed those signs.  

If you cut the apples into thin slices you will probably be able to see the tiny worms and their paths. They'll be very small and almost unnoticeable but if you look close enough you'll see them.  I used to use the apples to make chunky apple sauce like food for a couple of local parrot and macaw rescue places along with the whole apples so I've seen them in there. (The birds didn't mind a bit)  :)  Unfortunately, I don't think there is anything that you can do about them.  We tried tying nylons to each apple for a couple of years and they still got in there.

Here's the WSDA link about them https://agr.wa.gov/departments/insects-pests-and-weeds/insects/apple-maggot and the apple maggot quarantine information https://agr.wa.gov/departments/insects-pests-and-weeds/insects/apple-maggot/quarantine that shows you the map of the affected areas.

that sign sure is big enough to notice, but what do you do if you have said fruit in your vehicle, there does not to seem to be a turn off there where you can stop, sit at a picnic table and eat em all or no barrel to dump them off into?  or a govt run decontamination site,  no folks in white lab coats, just wondering?

Either apple maggot or codling moth.Slice it opened and if it ate the seeds it’s the moth.

I agree with Skandi that it looks like codling moth damage. Up until last year, the dozen or more apple trees in our community garden were badly infested with codling moth larvae.
However, last spring, just prior to bud burst, we affixed pheromone loops to all our trees, including the adjoining plums, peaches and quinces.
Not one of our apples had codling moth larvae in them. The brand of loops that we used were isomate which are also available in the US
These are the instructions we were given for their use

The principle, how the loops work is as follows:

- The loops contain a sex pheromone of the female codling moths; it evaporates slowly over several months.
- The scent is the guiding thing that attracts the male codling moths, much stronger than what female codling moths can produce.
- Males therefore are misguided/confused and don’t find females for mating; mating disruption occurs.
- Females lay eggs that are not fertilised, no caterpillars hatch out of them. (The worms in your apples are actually little caterpillars!)
- It is crucial to get the timing of hanging up the loops in tune with the lifecycle of the codling moths. Therefore it is important to have the loops in the trees on or before the 3rd of October, when the mating of the codling moths starts; that is for the NI, a bit later in colder parts of NZ.
- The method works best by hanging one loop per 12m to 20m in any direction, in about 2 to 4 m height. In my orchards I pick every 2nd tree, alternating locations in the rows, putting one loop on every tree on the perimeter trees.
- It is also important to safeguard the surrounding area by hanging up loops in trees other than apple trees. This will hopefully create a buffer zone that does prevent the migration of fertilised female codling moths into your orchard from outside your control area.
- It takes some time to reduce the population density of codling moths in heavily infested areas; I have observed an improvement over several years in my orchard.
- Involving neighbours in the fight against codling moths is obviously an advisable thing, because that extends the buffer zone around your orchard and fewer fertilised female codling moths will drift into your area.
- It is important to know that codling moths also affect walnuts and thrive in these trees.
- It is the best method for bigger orchards, but it also works in suburbia if you can get your neighbours on board.
The loops lose effectiveness over time. Therefore it is not advisable to stockpile them for several years.

Please bear in mind that I am in NZ so you need to add/subtract 6 months for the northern hemisphere.

bruce Fine wrote:that sign sure is big enough to notice, but what do you do if you have said fruit in your vehicle, there does not to seem to be a turn off there where you can stop, sit at a picnic table and eat em all or no barrel to dump them off into?  or a govt run decontamination site,  no folks in white lab coats, just wondering?

Yes, those signs were huge. This particular sign was on a random part of a highway that ran north/south and was in the middle of a county. It wasn't even on a border of one county going into the next.  No idea. lol

Another course of action is diligent removal of infected fruit to prevent over wintering of the larva usually the pupa is formed in the ground to overwinter.  A foliar spray of urine after petal drop seems to deter the ones that lay eggs in the blossom end of the fruit. Paper wasps will try to remove fruit larva before they enter the fruit. Paper wasp nests are open cells in contrast to yellow jacket wasps that close in their nests and go after sweet things and meat as well as larva thus becoming a pest late in the season.  By maintaining a high population of the paper wasps they usually destroy the yellow jacket larva before the quean can produce enough workers to protect the nest. If a large yellow jacket nest gets started then they rob the larva from the paper wasps. Besides pheromonal traps, light traps also can reduce the moths and fruit flies before they start laying eggs. Chopped infested fruit and trapped insects become pet bird food as mentioned.  Check and see if you can qualify chickens as pets.

The idea of the sign was not between counties so much as if you live in a county with apple maggots you do not transport them from your home. It was big to be instructional rather than administrative.

Woa, thanks to everyone for your input! I had no idea it was so difficult growing fruit. It has been quite the adventure, each year I learn a little more and things get a little better. Our local extension has been busy but they got back to me and believe they are codling moths.

I have posted their response below for anyone interested. We have been battling mites in our pear trees as well so hopefully this winter I can knock them out with the oil we purchased, and then I’m gonna get these apple buggers under control! We actually had some nice rainier cherries this year but the birds got them before we could protect them maybe next year!



You have asked about insects that have damaged the apples in your photos.  This appears to be evidence of codling moths, a primary pest of apple trees in Washington.  At this time, you need to remove the infected fruit, as well as nearby places where the larvae may overwinter.

Then, you have the winter to decide your approach to managing the codling moth for next year.  Non-pesticide strategies include bagging the fruit and putting corrugated cardboard rings around the trunk to trap the larvae.

https://pubs.extension.wsu.edu/codling-moth-and-your-backyard-fruit-tree
https://extension.wsu.edu/yakima/home-garden/tree-fruit-pests/

There are a variety of pesticides available for home gardeners, and these include some organic options.  If you decide to use a pesticide, you must follow the instructions on the label.

http://hortsense.cahnrs.wsu.edu/Search/MainMenuWithFactSheet.aspx?CategoryId=3&PlantDefId=59&ProblemId=22

This link includes further information on pesticides, although home gardeners are limited to the remedies in the section "HOME USE".

https://pnwhandbooks.org/insect/tree-fruit/apple/apple-codling-moth