Artificial diet sandwich reveals subsocial behaviour in the coffee berry borer Hypothenemus hampei (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae)

Abstract

An artificial diet sandwich, consisting of coffee berry borer artificial diet within two glass plates, has been developed to elucidate the behaviour of the coffee berry borer, an insect that in nature spends most of its life cycle inside the coffee berry. Various types of behaviour have been observed for the first time, including gallery construction, oviposition, gallery blocking, mating and most remarkably, subsocial tasks such as maternal sanitation and tending of eggs and larvae. This observational technique is a breakthrough for studies and manipulations of the coffee berry borer's social behaviour and could be applicable to other bark beetles, consequently yielding important insights into the origin of parental care in scolytine beetles.

Cultivation and Genome Sequencing of Bacteria Isolated From the Coffee Berry Borer (Hypothenemus hampei), With Emphasis on the Role of Caffeine Degradation

“…The other type of ovum mediated transmission involves inoculation of the egg shell via frass or secretions containing the symbiote, which is ingested upon egg hatching (Hosokawa et al, 2012;Salem et al, 2015b). As stated above, we have observed an egg grooming behavior in which female coffee berry borers appear to smear her eggs shortly after oviposition (Vega et al, 2017). A similar situation has been reported in Adomerus stinkbugs, which smear a secretion containing a symbiote over the eggs (Hosokawa et al, 2013).…”

“…Twenty heads from each sampling site (Table 1) were dissected from surface-sterilized adult females and macerated with sterile disposable plastic mini-pestles in 2 ml nuclease-free culture tubes containing 1 ml of nutrient broth (NB; Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, United States). The reason for using heads is based on having observed an egg grooming behavior in which adult females smear recently oviposited eggs using her mouthparts (Vega et al, 2017), suggesting they may secrete a substance over the egg. Twenty eggs from each sampling site were cultured with or without surface-sterilization (Table 1).…”

Observing the devastating coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei) inside the coffee berry using micro-computed tomography

“…A recently-developed technique useful in studying the behaviour of the coffee berry borer involves artificial diet sandwiches, consisting of artificial coffee berry borer diet 5 placed between two glass plates, followed by introducing insects and sealing the plates 6 . This technique has shown that the insect exhibits subsocial behaviour 6 .…”

“…A recently-developed technique useful in studying the behaviour of the coffee berry borer involves artificial diet sandwiches, consisting of artificial coffee berry borer diet 5 placed between two glass plates, followed by introducing insects and sealing the plates 6 . This technique has shown that the insect exhibits subsocial behaviour 6 . Because observing the development and behaviour of the insect in intact berries is impossible, the use of an X-ray-based technology known as micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) is ideal to learn more about the insect’s life history inside the berry.…”

Extraction of coffee berry borer adults and larvae from fruits

“…worldwide (Vega et al, 2015). However, the control of H. hampei is difficult because of its cryptic habits (Vega et al, 2017). The borer can reduce the yield of coffee plantations by up to 80%, as well as the quality of the bean and beverage due to the weight loss of infested coffee (Vega et al, 2015).…”