Codling Moth vs Fly Agaric

Cydia pomonella compared with Amanita muscaria

Key Differences

Codling Moth is Not Evaluated while Fly Agaric is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Codling Moth	Fly Agaric
Kingdom	Animalia (สัตว์)	Fungi (เห็ดรา)
Phylum	Arthropoda (สัตว์ขาปล้อง)	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)
Class	Insecta (แมลง)	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)
Order	Lepidoptera (ผีเสื้อ)	Agaricales (Gilled Mushrooms)
Family	Tortricidae	Agaricaceae (Agarics)
Genus	Cydia	Amanita (Amanitas)
Species	Cydia pomonella	Amanita muscaria

Conservation Status

Codling Moth

NE — Not Evaluated

Fly Agaric

LC — Least Concern

Trend: Stable →

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Codling Moth	Fly Agaric
Diet	—	Decomposer
Average Lifespan	—	1 years
Average Length	—	20 cm
Average Weight	—	100 g

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).

Fly Agaric

Habitat

Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

Range

Widely distributed across Europe (4 countries), North America (United States), Oceania and the Pacific (New Zealand), and South America (Brazil, Chile, Colombia).

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.

Fly Agaric

Among the most iconic and recognizable fungi on Earth, fly agaric mushrooms display striking red caps with white flecked warts across boreal forests of the Northern Hemisphere. Despite their fairy-tale appearance, they contain potent psychoactive compounds including muscimol and ibotenic acid and are moderately toxic. They form critical mycorrhizal symbioses with birch, pine, and spruce trees, exchanging mineral nutrients for carbon and playing essential roles in boreal forest nutrient cycling.