What is wrong with my apples- insects/disease

I have not had apples looking like this since I have been growing fruit for many years. I did not have time this year to spray correctly- out of town for a family emergency then rain off and on for three weeks. So many of my apples this year looks like the pictures I have posted. I am pretty sure this is all insect damage not from disease. What insects cause this type of apple disfigurement?
Hopefully I can get back to my regular spraying schedule next year. The apples I am getting will just be used for apple butter since most are not usable for just fresh eating.
Thank everyone in advance for your input and help.



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Mike,
Please check this out. Could be caused by a few things.

https://extension.unh.edu/sites/default/files/migrated_unmanaged_files/Resource006843_Rep9894.pdf.

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Thank you. I appreciate the link. I tried several sites but the photos were either non existent or the descriptions were very vague.

I don’t see any obvious frass on the skins, perhaps it rubbed off from the fruits being handled.

Slice some open and see if there is any tunneling, sometimes to the core.

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Lookslike apple maggot from here

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I cut some open but did not see any worms.

They manifest as brown trails in the flesh.

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I saw some brown trails but they did not seem to get to the seed area. Not going very far into the apple flesh.

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Those would be the apple maggots. It’s the codling moth larvae that tunnel right to the seed and leave a lot of frass. A much larger tunnel with these.

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Agree with Lois,
The apple fly maggot is not visible usually to the naked eye, perhaps you can see tunneling leaving a brown trail and that is often the taletell trace. Severity varies, but as you allow an infection to occur this year without properly disposing of the wasted fruit, if you allow it to just lay under the tree, next year the severity of infection will increase. So even if you are not sure, do not compost them, take them off the property or as I do place them in an above ground sealed container, sprinkle with powdered sulphur and let them go thru the winter freeze cycles above ground. That usually eliminates most of the eggs they can deposit. It pays to read about the life cycle and protect your apples well before the flies emerge in spring. If trees are to large to bag all fruit when about the size of a quarter, then try using Surround applied very liberally to assure each fruit has a thick coat of the clay, for some reason that seems to foil them. Maybe it’s because when coated the scent is masked? Anyway, for now do a good job of assuring the infected fruit leaves your property or is properly disposed to interrupt the life cycle. I had this problem an it took about two years to get to successful control.
Good luck
Dennis
Kent, wa

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If there is very little sign in a given fruit, I’ll eat the thing. Can’t sell them tho.

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I normally have been using the apples for apple butter for my family. I’ll just cut out the bad parts and make the apple butter this year. It was a very poor year for apples in my area.

Great advice. I have never used Surround before. Perhaps I need to try it next year. This year has been a mess. I have been throwing the apples that are so badly messed up in my trash can. I run over the leaves in the fall since there are so many of them and mulch them up very fine with my riding mower.
Thank you for your well wishes Dennis.

Are the brown trails hollow or are they just like veins? Sometimes brown veins get mistaken for maggots, but can be caused by nutrient deficiencies. Where I’m at, brown veins are a sign of needing more calcium (which I apply in the form of crushed oyster shell sold for chickens).

… or you can apply 40lb of Gypsum for a space about 80x40’. Its effect lasts for years presumably. Also, I apply foliar Ca in every cover spray.

Nutrient: Max-In® Calcium by Winfield Solutions, LLC

Active ingredient: CaCl

1 c per ten gallons