Codling Moth vs Dusky Slender Opossum

Cydia pomonella compared with Marmosops fuscatus

Key Differences

• Codling Moth is Not Evaluated while Dusky Slender Opossum is Data Deficient.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Codling Moth	Dusky Slender Opossum
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Didelphimorphia (Didelphimorphia)
Family	Tortricidae	Didelphidae
Genus	Cydia	Marmosops
Species	Cydia pomonella	Marmosops fuscatus

Evolutionary Relationship

Codling Moth and Dusky Slender Opossum share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

Codling Moth

NE — Not Evaluated

Dusky Slender Opossum

DD — Data Deficient

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Codling Moth	Dusky Slender Opossum
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

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).

Dusky Slender Opossum

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Colombia and Venezuela.

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.