Insect Pests of Fruit, Plantation, Medicinal & Aromatic Crops (2+1)

4. Coffee berry borer

4. Coffee berry borer - Hypothenemus hampei (Coleoptera:Scolytidae)

• The coffee berry borer is the most serious pest of all coffee cultivars the world over.
• The pest was first noticed in India on a few plantations in Nilgiris in early 1990.
Life history

• The adult berry borer is a small black beetle with a sub-cylindrical body covered with thick hairs.
• Females are approximately 2.5 mm long. Males are smaller.
• The female beetle bores into the berry through the navel region.
• Though berries in various stages of development are attacked, tunneling an ovipositon occur only in hard beans.
• The mother beetle lays about 15 eggs in the tunnel.
• Eggs hatch in about 10 days.
• The larvae feed on the beans making small tunnels.
• Larval period lasts for about 20 days and the pupal period for a week.






• Development from egg to adult takes just over a month.
• The ratio of male to male is approximately 10:1.
• Mating takes place inside the berries.
• The short life cycle enables the pest to complete several generations in a year, in quick succession, under favorable conditions.
• The beetle in the berries either on the plant or on the ground can survive for more than five months.
• This enables the pest to carry over from one seasons crop to the next.
• The pest usually comes out and infests fresh berries in the evening hours.
• The pest usually comes out and infests fresh berries in the evening hours.
• The borer incidence could be pronounced at an altitude range of 500 m to 1000 m above sea level.
Damage

• A typical pin hole at the tip of the berries indicates the presence of the pest.
• In case of a severe infestation, two or more holes may be seen, either in the navel or on the sides.
• A powdery substance pushed out through the holes reveals the active tunneling and feeding within the beans.
• The pest damages young as well as ripe berries.





• Infested tender berries may fall due to injury or secondary infection by fungi.
• Breeding occurs in developed berries from the time the bean becomes hard and continues in the ripe and over-ripe berries either on the plant or on the ground.
• Generally only one of the beans in a berry is affected.
• Damage to both the beans could be noticed occasionally, especially during the fag end of the cropping season.
• In case of severe infestation 30 to 80% of the berries may be attacked, resulting in heavy crop loss.
Control measures

• Timely harvest – Reduces carry over inoculums and thorough harvest – breaks the life cycle.
• Removal of off-season berries to break the continuity of the breeding
• Spread gunny/plastic sheets (picking mats) below the plants minimizes the gleaning.
• If gleanings could not be collected they may be swept along with the mulch and buried below a depth of 0.75 m in the soil.
• Avoid excess shade. Train bushes properly.
• Avoid planting tree coffee
• Dry coffee to the prescribed specification:
• Arabica/robusta parchment – 10.0% (15.5 kg/for lit)
• Arabica cherry - 10.5% (16.0 kg/for lit)
• Robusta cherry - 11.0% (18.0 kg/for lit)
• Do not transport infested crop to other areas.
• Dipping infested berries in boiling water for 2-3 minutes kills all the stages inside.
• Use only fumigated gunny bags to avoid cross infestation.
• Spray a suspension of the fungus Beauveris bassiana when the beetles are in the pulp.
• Use of parasitoids – Cephalanomia stephanoderis