During host plant selection and particularly after alighting on a plant, chemical cues from the plant surface influence an insect's acceptance of the plant and, subsequently, its egg-laying behaviour. Primary metabolites in the phylloplane may be more important than hitherto known. We have shown that soluble carbohydrates, such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose, and sugar alcohols, such as sorbitol, quebrachitol, and myo-inositol, can be detected by insects after contacting the plant and that they positively influence egg-laying of the codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), on apple trees. We addressed the question whether a lack of these substances could also explain apple tree resistance to C. pomonella in terms of reduced egg-laying. Leaf surface washings were collected in an apple orchard by spraying water on the resistant cultivar X65-11 and on the susceptible cultivar P5R50A4. The washings were tested on a nylon cloth on isolated females under no-choice conditions. The washings were analysed and synthetic blends, each consisting of the six metabolites in the proportions established in the leaf surface washings of both cultivars, were then tested for their effect on egg-laying of C. pomonella. Dose-response egg-laying tests were carried out on substrates impregnated with the X65-11 leaf surface blend at 1, 100, 1 000, and 10 000 times the natural dose. Egg-laying behaviour in the bioassays with leaf surface washings of both cultivars closely resembled egg-laying in the orchard. Washings of P5R50A4 stimulated egg-laying to a greater extent than those of X65-11 and the water control. Synthetic blends reduced substrate acceptance and egg-laying, compared to the washings of X65-11. Ratios between components within the blend are responsible for this resistance. In conclusion, quantities and ratios of the six primary metabolites found on the leaf surface may influence host preference of C. pomonella as well as their egg-laying behaviour, thus they may play a role in the trees' resistance to the codling moth.