One rotten crabapple

As the crabapple fruits have ripened, they have turned a brilliant red.  They are still not edible, but they have brought a welcome splash of color to the garden at a time when most of the plants are fading.

The ripening crabapple fruits have turned bright red.

Although I think that the fruits are too sour to eat, the taste has not proved an obstacle to all.  Some of the fruits, such as the one pictured below, have holes filled with insect frass.

A crabapple fruit with a hole filled with insect frass.

I wanted to see what was eating the fruits, so I picked the one pictured above and sliced it open.  At first, all I found was more frass.

A crabapple fruit filled with insect frass.

However, after I carefully sliced more of the fruit away, a small caterpillar came wiggling out.  It was a codling moth (Cydia pomonella) larva, a major pest of apples that also attacks the fruits of other trees including crabapples, pears, and walnuts.

The codling moth (Cydia pomonella) larva that had been eating the crabapple.