Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari, 1867)

Fornazier, M. J., Martins, D. S., Fanton, C. J. & Benassi, V. L. R. M., 2019, INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT IN CONILON COFFEE, Conilon coffee - The Coffea canephora produced in Brazil, Vitória, ES, Brasil: Incaper - Capixaba Institute for Research, Technical Assistance and Rural Extension, pp. 493-533 : 2015-2021

Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari, 1867) ( Coleoptera : Curculionidae )

Description and Biology

Originating in Africa, coffee berry borer is the conilon main pest, as it has the ability to attack fruits at all maturing stages, from green to ripe (berry) or dry. This pest was first detected in Brazil in 1913, in the municipality of Campinas, São Paulo ( BERTHET, 1913). However, its presence was officially registered only in 1924, when it caused great losses.

The adult of the coffee berry borer is a small black beetle, with a cylindrical body and slightly curved towards the posterior region. The elytron are coated with characteristic pyriform bristles and scales. The males are similar to the females, but are smaller, measuring about a third of their body size and have rudimentary wings. For this reason, males do not fly and do not leave the fruits from which they originated. The proportion in the population is one male to ten females ( BERGAMIN, 1943; BENASSI; CARVALHO, 1994).

Mating occurs within the fruit where the female originated. Right after it, she looks for another fruit and perforates it, usually in the crown region, beginning the excavation of a gallery until reaching the seed parchment ( Figure 1 ). The female takes about seven hours to fully penetrate the fruit and can attack the fruit since the pellet-like berry stage.

However, only when the coffee fruit reaches adequate moisture content/dry matter, that is, after the "water̎ period ("green̎ stage), the females initiate oviposition. Inside the seed, it widens the gallery and begins the lay. The eggs are small, white, elliptical and bright. The female initially lays, on average, two eggs per day. After 10 to 20 days, it starts to lay one egg a day, during a period of 10 to 12 days; from there, one egg every two days. A female can live up to 156 days and can lay from 31 to 119 eggs. The larvae are born after 4 to 10 days of egg laying and begin to feed on the seed, disintegrating small particles from the walls of the chamber where they were born. After a few days and under favorable conditions for the female to lay the eggs and larvae hatch, the seed can be fully consumed. The larval stage lasts on average 14 days and the larvae become pupae. At this stage, the vestiges of wings, antennae, eyes, mouth parts and legs of the future adult appear. The pupae initial coloration is white and over time the antennae, wings and mouthparts become darker and have a light brown color. The pupal stage lasts, in average, seven days; the adult is dark yellow in the early days and darkens to the definitive black color. The complete evolution from egg to adult occurs between 22 and 32 days and depends on the temperature ( BERGAMIN, 1943; SOUZA; REIS, 1997; LAURENTINO; COSTA, 2004).

Adults and immature forms survive from one crop to another, in coffee beans lying on the ground or retained in plants, provided there are favorable conditions of moisture for their survival. Thus, post-harvest rains provide ideal conditions for survival of the coffee berry borer, particularly if associated with intense summer in January and February. The lack of uniformity of flowering also favors the coffee berry borer multiplication because it provides the existence of fruits suitable for its feeding for a longer period.

Losses

High temperatures associated with water factors in the conilon cultivation regions lead to favorable conditions to the greater development of coffee berry borer populations and allow the pest to be responsible for large losses in productivity (BENASSI; CARVALHO, 1994). After the female perforates the fruit and digs the galleries with the respective laying chamber, the larvae appear, which, when feeding, destroy partially or totally the seed ( Figure 2 ).

In the processing of harvested coffee, the following situations can arise due to the severity with which the seed was damaged: presence of perfect or healthy beans, not affected by the coffee berry borer; drilled beans in which the perforations of the coffee berry borer galleries can be observed; and low quality coffee, resulting from the breaking of the most damaged beans by the coffee berry borer.

High infestations of this insect in the production phase decrease the percentage of perfect beans and increase the amount of drilled, low quality and broken beans.Thus,the damages caused by the coffee berry borer can be directly verified in the weight loss of the processed coffee, since the completely destroyed or very damaged beans leave together with the low quality beans and indirectly due to the presence of drilled beans and the depreciation of the processed coffee value, since every five drilled beans, it is considered a defect in the classification by type ( NAKANO et al., 1976; YOKOYAMA et al., 1978; LUCAS et al., 1989). Another problem with coffee quality is the presence of residues composed of feces and part of adult insects, larvae and eggs that remain in roasted and ground coffee.

Information gathering carried out in the state of Espírito Santo showed that in years favorable to infestation, coffee berry borer causes losses up to R$ 40 million per year ( De MUNER et al., 2000). Fornazier et al. (2000a, 2000b, 2000c, 2000d, 2000e, 2000f, 2001b) and Fornazier, Martins and De Muner (2001); Fornazier et al. (2001b) showed infestations of coffee berry borer in Espírito Santo's conilon coffee higher than 25% of drilled grains, after processing. Field infestations were sampled in all conilon coffee producing municipalities, which led to the launching of the State Coffee Berry Borer Management Campaign ( SOARES et al., 2001). As a result of this campaign, it was possible to typify conilon coffee produced in the northern and southern regions of Espírito Santo. It was observed the great influence of coffee berry borer on the reduction of crop productivity, especially of the less-technological ones, on the intrinsic quality of conilon coffee and on the slight increase in the incidence of grain defects ( FORNAZIER et al., 2000a, 2000b, 2000c, 2000d, 2000e, 2000f, 2001b, FORNAZIER; MARTINS; De MUNER, 2001, FORNAZIER et al., 2001b).

Infestation and Sampling

In spite of attacking the fruits at all maturation stages, the coffee berry borer only begins to perforate the fruits when the seeds reach the moisture content and the dry matter weight adequate to the egg laying by the females. When the coffee berry borer attacks fruits still in the pellet stage or very watery, they stop their development and fall later. In conilon, these fruits still underdeveloped to be perforated, in addition to the growth stoppage, present a change in coloration, which varies from yellowish to slightly reddish before falling. When the attack occurs after the pellet stage, the infested fruits continue to develop, but the coffee berry borer is lodged in the fruit crown, without continuing the excavation of the gallery, waiting its development until the seeds reach the content of moisture/matter dry conditions appropriate to oviposition. The identification by the producer of this period in which the coffee berry borer is housed in the crown and does not penetrate the fruit usually occurs between October and December in Espírito Santo and is the determining factor in the success of the chemical control measures adoption. It is in this period that the producer must initiate sampling procedures and infestation calculations ( SOARES et al., 2001; FORNAZIER et al., 2005c). In the state of Rondônia, field infestations ranged from 33 to 40% ( COSTA et al., 2002).

It has not been easy to establish a practical criterion to determine accurately the degree of pest infestation in the coffee crop because the coffee berry borer does not spread uniformly on the lands and in the fruits of the same plant. However, the criterion adopted in the practice is to collect, at random, from each field, a certain quantity of fruits of a certain number of plants beginning in October-November, when the beans are still green.

For the coffee berry borer infestation survey in arabica coffee, it has been recommended to sample 50 plants per field, well distributed throughout the area; collect 100 fruits per plant taking, randomly, 25 of each face of the plant, totaling 5 thousand fruits per field ( REIS et al., 2010). In order to facilitate, the fruits can be mixed, forming a single sample and counted by separating the drilled ones (with the presence of live insects) from those healthy ones, obtaining the percentage of infestation. It is done in the same way for all fields and determines the average that will provide the infestation. The indication of the infestation percentage is very important, since it is based exclusively on it that the coffee crop treatment can be recommended. However, whenever possible, the control should be performed by field and/or coffee clone when the control levels are reached. Sampling in the Espírito Santo municipalities that are conilon coffee producers was carried out with 500 fruits in fielsd of 3 thousand to 5 thousand plants, where excellent results were obtained ( De MUNER et al., 2000; FORNAZIER et al., 2000a, 2000b, 2000c, 2000, 2000e, 2000f, 2001b; FORNAZIER; MARTINS; De MUNER, 2001; FORNAZIER et al., 2001b).

Methods of control

Cultural

Culture control through "transfer̎, that is, the harvesting of coffee beans that remain in the soil or retained in the plant after harvesting is aimed at reducing outbreaks of pest infestation in the crop. It is one of the most efficient methods of fighting coffee berry borer using "friendlier̎ technology for the management. The withdrawal of the food source and the remaining insects from the previous crop greatly favors the pest population reduction in commercial crops. Abandoned crops should be eradicated not to work as a focus for multiplication and insect dissemination. The very green fruits of the previous crop, coming from late flowering, should also be removed, because when they develop they can be used to multiply the coffee berry borer during the off season. The densification of crops is becoming more and more frequent in conilon coffee cultivation and may favor the coffee berry borer infestation in periods favorable to its development. For the storage of the harvested beans, it is necessary to perform the drying correctly to avoid that the coffee berry borer continues its multiplication, especially in the coffee stored in coconut (FORNAZIER; BENASSI; MARTINS, 1995; FORNAZIER et al., 2000c; De MUNER et al., 2000).

Biological

As the coffee berry borer main natural enemies, the African parasitoids stand out: Prorops nasuta Waterston , known as Uganda Wasp; Cephalonomia stephanoderis Betrem , Ivory Coast Wasp; Heterospilus coffeicola Schemied and Phymastichus coffea La Salle , Togo Wasp. In addition to these species, it was documented the presence of Cephalonomia hyalinipennis Ashmead in Mexico ( PÉREZ-LACHAUD, 1998; PÉREZ-LACHAUD; HARDY, 1999) and in Brazil, in the State of São Paulo, municipalities of Ribeirão Preto, Mococa and Campinas ( BENASSI, 2007) and in the State of Espírito Santo, municipality of Sooretama.

Prorops nasuta was introduced in Brazil by Hempel in 1929, multiplied in laboratory and released in several municipalities of the State of São Paulo With the use of chemicals, from the 1940s, biological control using this wasp was neglected. Currently, this parasitoid can be found in some Brazilian states, such as Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Paraná and São Paulo. Ivory Coast Wasp occurs naturally in several municipalities of Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rondônia and São Paulo ( BENASSI, 1996; SOUZA et al., 2006). Surveys carried out in 19 municipalities of Espírito Santo during the period from 2001 to 2003 detected their presence in 18 of them, with parasitism index in the field varying from 1.3% to 83.0% in the off-season ( BENASSI, 2007).

The adults of the three species P. nasuta ( Figure 3A ), C. hyalinipennis ( Figure 3B ) and C. stephanoderis ( Figure 3C ) are from the family Bethylidae (Hymenoptera) and resemble color and size: they are black and measure approximately 2.5 mm in length. They can be easily differentiated by the shape of the head, which is triangular in the Uganda Wasp, quadrangular in the Ivory Coast Wasp and rectangular in C. hyalinipennis ( Figure 3 ).

The development phases length of the two species is similar and depend on temperature, varying the egg period from two to six days and larval stage of four to eight days ( BENASSI, 1996, 2000). After this period, the larva weaves a cocoon and inside of it begins its pupal stage, later emerging as an adult insect. All the activity of the two species occurs inside the coffee fruits, where the adults penetrate through the gallery made by the coffee berry borer. The females, finding the larvae developed and coffee berry borer pupae, paralyze them by venom injection and place, in most cases, only one egg in the ventral region of the larvae or in the dorsal region of the pupae. After hatching, the wasp larvae penetrate into the coffee berry borer larva (part of their body is exposed) and suck their entire contents ( Figure 4 ). The development period of P. nasuta and C. stephanoderis is similar and depend on temperature. The egg period varies from two to six days and the larval from four to eight days ( BENASSI, 1996, 2000, 2007).

In addition to parasitism by larvae, adults have the predatory characteristic and feed on eggs, small larvae and coffee berry borer adults.When the coffee berry borer adults are attacked, they usually have their head pulled out ( BENASSI, 2007) ( Figure 5 ).

These species of parasitoids both reproduce sexually and asexually, by arrhenotoky parthenogenesis, giving rise only to male individuals. When this type of reproduction occurs, the males mate with the mothers giving rise again to the new generation with females and males ( BENASSI, 2007).

These wasps can be created in drilled coffee fruits and later released in the coffee plantation to control the coffee berry borer.The Instituto Capixaba de Pesquisa, Assistência Técnica e Extensão Rural - Incaper (Capixaba Institute for Research, Technical Assistance and Rural Extension) has been developing for several years studies on biological control with the coffee berry borer parasitoids, mainly with the Ivory Coast Wasp, multiplying it in the laboratory and releasingthem in Coffea canephora crops, in the northern region of Espírito Santo.

The Program of Coffee Berry Borer Beetle Biological Control was released in the State of Espírito Santo in 1996, aiming to encourage associations, cooperatives and municipal agriculture to the installation of laboratories for the multiplication of Ivory Coast Wasps.

Besides the parasitoids, another natural control agent is the fungus Beauveria bassiana . However, this entomopathogenic application, available in commercial formulations on the market, is dependent on climatic conditions to exert control over the coffee berry borer. Special care with the timing of the application should be observed, as it should coincide with the maturation period of the first flowering fruits, in which the coffee berry borer is housed in the fruit crown.

The use of these biological control agents can be a complementary measure of the coffee berry borer integrated management program, helping to reduce its population and the consequent damage caused by this pest.

Chemical

The decision on the use of insecticides in the chemical control of the coffee berry borer should take into account the plant phenology (fruit maturation dynamics) and the pest biological cycle.Thus, between three and four months after the first flowering - which is variable among the different coffee producing regions -, the pest monitoring should be started to verify its presence in coffee fruits ( REIS et al., 2010). Monitoring traps, already available with the coffee berry borer specific attractive, can also indicate the beginning of flights, the transit season of the adults that leave the fruits in which they developed and look for the new harvest fruits to lay their eggs. It is important to identify this initial period of the transit season, because the coffee berry borers do not immediately penetrate the fruits and remain on their surface and are likely to be affected by insecticides applied at that strategic moment.

Figures

Figure 1. Rosette with coffee berry borer attack symptom (A); and detail of the pest hole in the crown region of the fruit (B).

Figure 2. Coffee beans damaged by coffee berry borer at different maturation stages.

Figure 3. Prorops nasuta - Uganda wasp (A); C. stephanoderis - Ivory Coast Wasp (B); and C. hyalinipennis (C).

Figure 4. Parasitism stages of the Ivory Coast Wasp, Cephalonomia stephanoderis from the coffee berry borer larva (top of the figure) and the coffee berry borer pupa (bottom). Source: Benassi (1996).

Figure5. Adult coffee berry borer beheaded by the Ivory Coast Wasp.