Chinese Mole Shrew vs Codling Moth

Anourosorex squamipes compared with Cydia pomonella

Key Differences

  • Chinese Mole Shrew is Least Concern while Codling Moth is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank Chinese Mole Shrew Codling Moth
Kingdom same Animalia (Animals) Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Chordata (Chordates) Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Mammalia (Mammals) Insecta (Insects)
Order Soricomorpha (Soricomorpha) Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family Soricidae Tortricidae
Genus Anourosorex Cydia
Species Anourosorex squamipes Cydia pomonella

Evolutionary Relationship

Chinese Mole Shrew and Codling Moth share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

Chinese Mole Shrew

LC — Least Concern

Codling Moth

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute Chinese Mole Shrew Codling Moth
Diet
Average Lifespan
Average Length
Average Weight

Habitat & Geographic Range

Chinese Mole Shrew

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Codling Moth

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (South Africa), Europe (6 countries), and North America (Canada, United States).

Chinese Mole Shrew

The Chinese Mole Shrew (Anourosorex squamipes) is a species in the genus Anourosorex. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Codling Moth

The Codling Moth (Cydia pomonella) is a lepidopteran pest in the family Tortricidae, recognised globally as one of the most economically damaging insects affecting apple, pear, and walnut orchards. Adult moths have a wingspan of approximately 15–22 millimetres, with forewings patterned in grey and bronze, featuring a distinctive dark ocellate marking at the wing tip. Females lay eggs singly on fruit or foliage; hatching larvae bore directly into developing fruit, feeding on seeds and the core, creating characteristic brown frass-filled tunnels. By the time infestation is visible externally, significant damage to the crop has already occurred. Originally native to Eurasia, Cydia pomonella has established itself on every continent where pome fruits are cultivated, including North America, South America, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, facilitated by trade in infested plant material. Management relies on integrated approaches combining pheromone-based mating disruption, timed insecticide applications, kaolin clay barriers, and biological control using entomopathogenic nematodes and the granulovirus CpGV. Resistance to organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides has developed in some populations, complicating conventional chemical management. The species undergoes 1–3 generations per year depending on climate. Despite its pest status, Cydia pomonella is not conservation-evaluated.

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