Coffee Insects
Everybody likes coffee which can be enjoyed in many different variations: Strictly speaking Espresso, Caffè Latte and Latte Macchiato do represent the most favored kinds of coffee. Basically it can be said that the term “latte” means a special coffee drink that is made by means of both espresso and steamed milk. Coffee in general, however, is a hot or brewed drink that gets prepared from so-called roasted seeds, in other words: coffee beans. So coffee can be bought in the form of coffee beans or coffee powder. Whereas coffee powder is needed for filter coffee, coffee beans are essential for so-called Espressomaschinen and Kaffeevollautomaten. This kind of coffee turns out to be more aromatic when it comes to its distinctive flavor.
As already mentioned within the introduction of this article, coffee represents one of the most popular and essential agricultural products or commodities worldwide. Furthermore it can be said that coffee is cultivated in more than 50 countries throughout the tropics. Unfortunately, a variety of different insect pests have been identified in coffee, the most dangerous being amongst others the coffee leaf miner, the coffee stem borers as well as the so-called coffee berry borer. In this context it can be mentioned that the basic and main biology of these three insect pests is already discussed and well-known.
The coffee leaf miner represents a so-called micromoth and measures approximately 2mm in length. Strictly speaking this insect is the most important pest of coffee in Brazil as well as in many other regions throughout the whole American continent. Coffee leaf miners do lay eggs on the adaxial side of the leaves of coffee plants. Consequently larvae are going to mine into the leaves and consume the so-called mesophyll. So they create necrotic lesions which do provoke a reduction of the photosynthetic area and yields. This unfortunately results in great numbers of losses of exactly up to 50 per cent in Brazil. Losses of more than 40 per cent have been reported in Puerto Rico. Note: Coffee leaf miners do like dry conditions as well as very high temperatures. In cases like these the insect can have 7-12 generations per year.
The coffee berry borer is known as a real ‘coffee specialist’. Strictly speaking the coffee berry borer turns out to be endemic to Central Africa and has already been identified in the majority of important and essential coffee producing countries – with the exception of both Hawaii and Puerto Rico. In other words the females do bore a hole in the coffee berry and lay their eggs in the inside of it. So the larval feeding on the so-called endosperm causes a reduction of both the quality and the yields. This procedure can consequently result in a possible abscission of the coffee berry.