Coffee Borer Beetle Thrives on Caffeine

Coffee Borer Beetle
Thrives on Caffeine
By
www.BuyOrganicCoffee.org

http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1434/coffee-borer-
beetle-thrives-on-caffeine/
A constant threat to coffee production is an
infestation by the coffee borer beetle.

This insect burrows into the coffee bean and
lays its eggs.

The larva thrives by eating the bean after it
hatches.

The coffee borer beetle is not bothered by
the caffeine in the coffee bean although
caffeine is essentially poisonous to other
beetles.

Why is it that the coffee borer beetle thrives
on caffeine?

A recent article in National Geographic tells
how with the help of bacteria the coffee
borer beetle thrives on caffeine.

The beetle is the only animal that can feed
solely on coffee beans. Others might
occasionally nibble the seeds or other parts
of the coffee plant, but they don’t dedicate
themselves to the task.

There’s a reason for that: caffeine. This
stimulant draws many of us to coffee, but it
effectively deters plant-eating animals. Not
only does it taste bitter, but at the doses
found in coffee seeds, it can poison and
paralyze any wayward insect.

Any insect, that is, except for the coffee
berry borer. As a larva, it’s practically bathed
in caffeine, and yet it survives. Even the
most caffeine-rich beans fail to deter it.

Javier Ceja-Navarro from the Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory has
discovered its secret: it has bacteria in its
guts that can detoxify caffeine.

Bacteria in its gut are the reason the coffee
borer beetle thrives on caffeine.

Dr. Ceja-Navarro treated the beetles with
antibiotics and their protection against
caffeine went away.

The question is if organic coffee growers
would want to treat their field with massive
doses of antibiotics in order to combat the
coffee borer beetle.

Dealing with the Coffee
Borer Beetle

Because no one wants to go out and give a
penicillin injection to every coffee borer
beetle larva there must be other approaches
to controlling infestations of the coffee borer
beetle.

Options for coffee borer beetle infestations
include spraying with a fungus that is toxic
to the beetle.

Bassiana fungus is mixed with water, soap,
oil and even fertilizers and sprayed on the
soil as well as on the coffee beans. It tends
to reduce infestations to the 2% range.

According to Kona coffee farmers integrated
pest management includes field sanitation.

Simple sanitation is vital, and can be cost-
effective with a few preventative measures.
Many CBB experts consider it the most
effective form of control. The beetle can live
in the infected bean for up to 5 months
without feeding.

Do a “final round” gleaning of the field to
break the life cycle. In a well-picked field, it
should take approximately 16-24 man-hours
to glean old crop from 5 acres of trees.

Remove all infected beans before pruning
each tree. One beetle can multiply into 200
if left behind.

All CBB-infested beans or floaters should be
placed in black garbage bags and left in the
sun for several days. The heat will kill the
beetle. Freezing will also work.

Train your harvesters not to discard green
beans out of the picking bucket. Also train
them to spot La Broca (Spanish for CBB)
damage so that they may report trouble
areas.

Sanitation is consistent with organic coffee
management and so are traps.

Traps do not significantly reduce the coffee
borer beetle population but are a good way
to spot area of higher infestation.

And last of all dry all beans to lower than
12% moisture as this hardens the bean and
the beetle cannot enter.

Coffee Borer Beetle Thrives on Caffeine

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Coffee Borer Beetle Thrives on Caffeine