Cardboard Banding

Corrugated cardboard banding, applied to the trunks of host trees, works as a trap for mature codling moth larvae as they crawl on the tree in search of a place to pupate.

SIR Program staff band host trees primarily in areas near commercial orchards.  The bands are typically left in place until the end of the growing season, at which time staff remove the banding and determine how many codling moth larvae (if any) are present.  Banding is a useful tool that can aid in assessing the level of wild codling moth presence in particular trees.

Cardboard banding can also provide some supplemental control of the codling moth, during the growing season, particularly if the banding is changed (remove and destroy existing band, and replace it) during the growing season.

Homeowners wishing to do their own banding should apply the banding by early June (corrugated side of the cardboard toward the tree), then remove, destroy, and replace it in mid-July. The second bands should then be removed and destroyed during late fall or over the winter.

It is important to understand the limitations of banding as a control method.  Banding will only capture a small portion of the codling moth present on a tree;  and banding only captures codling moth larvae after they have infested the fruit on the tree.