The larvae often enter the terminal at the base of a young leaf, and tunnel toward the base of the shoot. Heavy twig infestations of nursery stock can adversely affect the shape of the tree. Axillary buds often begin to grow when the terminal shoot is killed, causing the tree to have a bushy appearance. Fruit that are infested when very small often drop. Larvae attacking nearly ripe peaches usually enter the fruit near the stem, leaving only a very small, inconspicuous entrance hole.
Terminal feeding on apple is similar to that on peach.
It is difficult to distinguish between OFM damage and coaling moth damage. Later instar larvae of the two species may be distinguished by the presence or absence of the anal comb at the tip of the abdomen. The anal comb is present in the OFM and absent in the coaling moth. However, because of the large pest complex on apple, biological control of one pest is difficult to achieve, since broad-spectrum insecticides are still needed for other pests. Research has shown that if a synthetic sex pheromone is released in high concentrations in an orchard, male Orientai fruit moths cannot locate a female to mate.