1. Presentation on,
Insect Pests of Coffee
Shivanand. M.R
UHS11PGM143
1
KITTUR RANI CHANNAMMA COLLEGE OF HORTICULTURE, ARABHAVI 591 310

2. • Green coffee scale- Coccus viridis
• Red stem borer -Zeuzera coffeae
• White stem borer -Xylotrechus quadripes
• Coffee berry borer- Hypothenemus hampei
• Mealy bug- Planococcus spp.
• Leaf miner- Leucoptera coffeina
• Termites- Macrotermes spp.
• Snail- Ariophanta solata
• White grub/ cockchafers- Holotrichia spp.

3. Green coffee scale: Coccus viridis (Coccidae:
Homoptera)
• The green scale is a serious sucking pest of coffee,
particularly on Arabica.
Identification of the pest :
 Nymphs : – pale yellow colour
 Adult: - flat, oval, light green, blackish spots on
dorsum & measure about 2 to 3 mm long, sedentary
& leads its whole life in one place.
 Often found concentrated on leaf veins and tips of
new shoots.
 Reproduction is parthenogenetic.
 Summer pest proliferating during hot dry weather.

4. • Damaging Stage: Nymphs & Adults
• Nature of damage& Symptoms:
• Nymphs and adults sucks sap from undersurface
of the leaves, green shoots, spikes and berries.
• Upward curling and tender twigs drop
• Honeydew excrete – development of sooty
mould fungus
• Heavy loss of the sap causes debility or even
death of the plant
• Defoliation of badly affected trees

5. Green coffee scale on stem & leaf

6. ants, black sooty mould and scale

7. Severe infestation of leaf

8. Management:
Preventative :
• Collection and destruction of infested plant parts.
• Control of ants (Chlorpyriphos/ Malathion dust 5%)
• Remove and burn weeds which harbour the scale.
• The natural predators of coffee scale such as wasps,
ladybird beetle and Verticillium fungus.
Chemical:
• Spraying of oils at 10 ml/L water applied as a spray
to affected plants.
• Only spray if 10 or more leaves are infested & spray
must completely wet and cover the scales.

9. • Carbaryl wettable powder at 2 g/ L.
• Spraying NSKE 4-5%.
Traditional:
• 1 kg strong tobacco per 2 L water.
• Soak for 2 nights, remove add 500 g of
washing powder and make up to 20 L& spray
weekly until scales disappear.

10. Stem Borers
• There are two species
• Red & white stem borer.
• Red stem borer : Zeuzera coffeae (Cossidae:
Lepidoptera)
• Identification of the pest :
• Adult - orange colour, medium sized moth
The adult has white and black spotted wings
The larva is red coloured

11. Life cycle :
 Eggs are usually laid singly on the bark
 Eggs hatch in 8 – 12 days and larval
development takes 3 – 4 months
 Pupation takes place inside the stem and the
adult emerges in about 2 months
 Adult is a nocturnal moth

12. Adult moth, larva
and pupa

13. • Damaging Stage : Larva
• Nature of damage & Symptoms of damage:
• Caterpillar bores into the stem or branches &
feeds on the wood.
• In early stages of attack, young plants or
braches show wilting.
• Pellet-like excrement of the larva hangs out
and accumulates at the base of the plant.
• In advanced cases, the branch dries up.

14. Damaged bark

15. Management
• Affected plants or twigs - cut and burnt.
• Providing good shade to plantation.
• Growing coffee at higher altitudes (above 800
MSL)
• Field release of white muscardine fungus B.
bassiana and braconid parasite Amyosoma
zeuzerae.
• Spraying NSKE at 4 percent.

16. White stem borer : (Xylotrechus quadripes,
Cerambicedae: Coleoptera)
• Identification of the pest:
• Adult - slender, long beetle (2.5 cm).
• Forewings are black with white bands.
• Males are generally smaller than females.
• Head :
• Male beetle - possesses distinctly raised black ridges.
• Female beetle these ridges are inconspicuous
• The lifecycle of both pests is completed during the
rainy season, but often damage is more evident during
the dry season.
• Grub: White or yellowish in colour, club shaped.
• Damaging stage: Grub

17. Adult (male & female) and larva

18. Nature of damage and Symptoms of attack
• Larvae enter into the hardwood and make the
tunnels may extend even into the roots.
• Tunnels - tightly filed with the excreta of the
grubs.
• Infested plants show visible ridges around the
stem.
• Yellowing and wilting of leaves.
• Affected branches are easily broken off.
• Young plants (7 to 8 years old) attacked by the
borer may die in a year.

21. Biology
Female lays eggs in crevices of bark of stem.
Fecundity: 50-100 eggs
Incubation: 8-10 Days
Larval period: 8-9 months
Pupal period: 25-30 Days
Pupation is in stem
Peak Activity: April- May & Oct- Nov

22. Management
 Maintain optimum shade in the plantations
 Trace the infested plants – prior to flight periods (i.e,
during March and September)
 Every year - looking for ridges on the main stem and
thick primaries.
 Collars prune the infested plants, uproot and burn the
affected parts.
 Remove the loose scaly bark of the main stem and thick
primaries using coir glove or coconut husk – kill the eggs
 Scrubbling during flight periods - kills the eggs and grubs
present in the bark region.
 Deep scrubbing should be avoided ( sharp implement may
injure the green wood and eventually kill the plant)

23.  Swab the main stem and thick primaries - Lindane 20 EC
@ 6.5 ml per litre of water along with any wetting agent.
 Spraying the main stem and thick primaries with NSKE
4% may afford good control of the pest.
 Field release of predators Apenesia sps for effective
control of white stem borer.
Apenesia
Male Female

24. Field release of white muscardine fungus
Beaveria bassiana.
Beaveria bassiana – infection,

25. Coffee berry borer
 Coffee berry borer : (Hypothenemus hampei,
Scolytidae: Coleoptera)
 It is causing significant damage in field & in storage, with
perhaps as high as 50% yield loss.
 Damaging Stage: Adults & Grubs
 Identification & Nature of Damage:
 The adult is a small black beetle (about 2.5 mm long) and
covered in thick hairs.
 Males are smaller
 The female beetle bores into berries through the navel
region.
 Cherries are attacked in various stages by larva & feeds
on beans making small tunnels.
 Beetles in the cherries either on the plant or on the
ground, can survive for more than five months.

26. Coffee berry borer adults

28. Life cycle:
 Eggs: Lays in batches of 8 – 12 in the tunnel,
hatch in 8 – 9 days
 Larvae: Apodous, white colored with a brown
head, period ranges from 15 – 18 days
 Pupa: Present inside the berry & it lasts 7 – 8 days
 Adult: Female is black in colour and measure
2.5mm in length
 In a population females are more numerous than
male, capable of flying whereas males are not.
 Life of the male is spent totally inside the berry.

30. Damaging Symptoms
Pin hole at the tip of the berries (novel region)
Severe infestation - two or more holes may be
seen.
Powdery substance pushed out through the
holes
Fruit drop of young, green cherries.
Cherries that do not drop often have defective,
damaged beans.

32. Management
Proper adoption of cultural practices and
phytosanitary measures
Transportation of infested coffee to uninfected
areas is the main reason for spread (Quarantine)
Crop bags should be fumigated before delivery to
estates to avoid cross infestation.
Timely harvest of berries.
Gleaning - spreading gunny bags or polythene
sheets on the ground after picking the berries -
minimize gleaning.
Maintain optimum shade and good drainage.

33. Dipping infested berries in boiling water for 2-3
minutes kills all the stages inside.
Drying of coffee beans – prevents breeding of beetles
in stored coffee based on moisture content level.
Arabica (10% moisture content)
Robusta (11% moisture content)
Install attractant trap to collect and kill the beetles
Attractant trap

34. • Install multiple funnel trap and pitfall trap to
collect and kill the adults.
Multiple funnel trap Pitfall trap

35. Chlorpyriphos @ 2ml/L of water along with wetting
agent applied at early fruit set (2 mm cherry size) and
later 120 to 150 days after fruit set if required.
 Cypermetrin and Deltametrin, pyrethroids (0.01%) at
26 ml/15L of water are used as an alternative
Field release of Cephalonomia stephendarix and
phymastichus coffea for effective control these pests.
Applications of white muscardine fungus, Beauveria
bassiana effectively reduce the borer attack.

36. Field application of Beauveria bassiana:
Mix 500 ml of groundnut oil with 500 ml of
any agricultural wetting agent thoroughly.
Add this suspension to 20 l of water and three
bags of Beauveria culture the above solution
mix well and strain through a muslin cloth.
Application of spore suspension on the
infested coffee bushes using a bakpak sprayer,
targeting the berries.
After 5 days application spores germinate and
kill the insect.

38. Mealy bugs( Planococcus spp. )
• Mealy bugs are the most important sucking
pests of coffee.
• Planococcus.citri (Risso) and P. lilacinus
(Cockerell) are the most common species
infesting coffee.
• They are small sucking insects (about 3 mm
long) covered with a white mealy wax that
feed on young shoots and young roots.
• They are generally more of a problem in the
dry season.

39. Identification of the pest
• Males - smaller and winged.
• Female - wingless, oval body

40. Nature of attack and Symptoms of damage
• Young plants – susceptible for heavy
infestation.
• Infest tender branches, nodes, leaves, spikes,
berries and roots
• Both nymphs and adults suck the sap from the
leaves.
• Severe infestation - Chlorotic leaves, aborted
flower buds and small berries
• Honey dew excrete – development of sooty
mould fungus (affects photosynthesis)

41. The black mould is often Cherry infestation
present with mealy bugs

42. Management
Maintain adequate shade.
Destroy nests of red ant and cocktailed ant.
Control ants by dusting Quinalphos 1.5% or
methyl parathion 2% or Malathion 5% around
the base of coffee and shade trees.
Spray the affected patches with Quinolphos
2ml/L
Infested roots - drench the soil near the root
zone with Chloropyriphos 2.5ml/L
In the case of young plants (2-4 year old)
drenching with dimethoate 30 EC @ 3 ml/L.

43. • Field release of two introduced natural enemies
viz., the predatory lady bird beetle Cryptolaemus
montrouzieri and the parasitoid Leptomastix
dactylopii
Adult of C. montrouzieri feed on Grub of C.
mealy bug montrouzieri feed on Leptomastix dactylopii
mealy bug

44. Leaf miner
Leaf miner: (Leucoptera coffeina, Agromyzidae: Diptera)
• It is often present, especially in shaded coffee.
Damaging Stage: Larva
NOD: The larva feed in between the epidermal layer of
tender leaves.
Symptoms:
• Appearance of white silvery serpentine mines on the leaf
Control:
1. Collection & destruction of infested leaves.
2. Spray NSKE@ 5%
3. Spraying of Trizophos @1.5ml/L, methyl demeton@
1.3ml/L, or cypermethrin @ 0.5ml/L

45. Typical leaf miner infestation on leaf

46. Termites
Termites :(Macrotermes spp.) can be a problem
on older coffee and shade trees with dead wood
• It infests leaves & cause curling of leaves.
Management:
• Plant coffee in clean ground where all tree parts,
including roots have been removed.
• Termites cannot survive as there is no dead wood
on which to feed ,remove all dead wood from the
coffee plantation.
• Effective pruning of dead wood on coffee trees.
• Flooding the plantation

47. Typical Termite infestation on dead wood
encourages termites to build nests

48. Cockchafers/ white grubs, (Holotrichia spp.)
• Damaging stage: Adults
• Adults feeds on leaves
Identification of the pest:
• Grub - C-shaped, dirty white with dark brown
head.
• Adults - reddish brown beetles

49. Symptoms of damage
• Young plants (1 to 5 years old) attacked by
white grubs
• Yellowing of leaves
• Stunted growth
• Wilting of plants and die (summer period).
• Attacked plants can be easily pulled out

50. • Field sanitation
• Collect and kill the grubs
• Install light traps and kill the trapped adults
(March – June)
• Affected plants – soil drench around the root
zone with lindane 20 EC @ 750 ml in 200 L of
water.
• In white grub-infested areas – at the time of
planting apply phorate 5 G 10 g or carbofuran
3G 10 g into the soil in the pit.

51. Coffee bean beetle ( Araecerus fasciculatus)
• It affects coffee berries in the field and of
beans in storage
Symptoms of damage:
Severe infestation occurs only in storage
Infested coffee beans shows circular holes
(bigger than made by the coffee berry borer)
Attacked fruits in the field shrink and become
black.
Infestation results in loss of weight increase in
triage and reduction of market value.

52. Identification:
 This compact beetle is 1.5-4 mm long, dark
brown with light brown spots and long
antennae.
 The footless slim larvae is curved and hairy
and grows to a length of 5-6 mm.

53. Management
• Maintain optimum temperature, relative
humidity and moisture content (less than
8%)
• Fumigate the stored coffee with a 1:1
mixture of ethylene dibromide and methyl
bromide.
• Impregnate the gunny bags with a mixture
of malathion 50 EC at 10ml + pyrethrum
colloid at 2 g per litre of water.

54. Snail ( Ariophanta solata )
Identification of the pest:
• Adult - medium sized snail, long and covered with a
cream coloured spiral shell
• Application of fish manure may attract snails.
Nature of damage:
• The snail feeds on the leaves of Arabica coffee and
bark of tender braches & skin of fruits.
• Causes deformation of leaves
• Drying of stems

56. Management
• Keep the estates clean
• Hand picks the snails and dip in hot water or
salt solution
• Use heaps of leaves to trap the snails.
• Broadcast the poison bait ‘snail kill’
(Metaldehyde 2.5%) of 25-35kg per hectare
• Spreading of lime and wood ash - repels snails.