I have decided to split this question into two parts. It's part two that
has prompted me to write.
Something I've wondered about for a long time. Every spring, when my
apples have just started to develop, a few to quite a few get attacked
by a pest that I feel may be simply apple maggots. I'll find a little
track just under the skin that leaves a curved trail perhaps half way
around the apple. These always drop by the time they are the size of a
dime. I don't loose enough apples to this pest to worry about it.
Later in the season, I hang red sticky balls in my trees. I watch for
the presence apple maggot flies. If I catch very many, I simply spray
with Carbaryl, usually a couple of times, and I rarely pick an apple
with any maggot damage.
So the question: Is there a real early attack of apple maggot that
starts not much more that a week after petal fall or is this some other
pest? [see below before you jump in with an answer!]
Steve in the Adirondacks
PS Today I looked through Google Images (searching for apple maggot
with various other words). Every picture found shows the typical damage
in a larger apple and no pictures show what I find in the spring.