A coffee agroecosystem model: III. Parasitoids of the coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei)

Daniel Rodríguez,José Ricardo Cure,Andrew Paul Gutierrez,José Miguel Cotes

doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2017.08.008

Abstract

Parasitoids native to tropical Africa have been released in the Americas for the biological control of the coffee berry borer (CBB), but their establishment has been checkered. A tritrophic distributed maturation time model for the coffee plant – CBB – three parasitoids (Phymastichus coffea, Cephalonomia stephanoderis, Prorops nasuta) system was proposed by Gutierrez et al. (1998). Based on this pioneering work, and improved models for coffee and CBB (Rodríguez et al., 2011, 2013), we present an updated version of the parasitoid models. The new elements in this analysis include:1.New data on the biology and behavior of the parasitoids are added.2.A fourth parasitoid (Cephalonomia hyalinipennis) is added to the system.3.Interspecific competitive interactions among parasitoids (e.g., dyadic contests, intra-guild predation and hyperparasitism) and their effects on the control of CBB are explored.Because field data on the effectiveness of the parasitoids on CBB control is sparse, we assessed the efficacy of the parasitoids for control of CBB heuristically. The results are compared to prior analyses, and are related to field observations. Specifically, we found:1.Control of CBB by betilid parasitoids (Cephalonomia stephanoderis, Cephalonomia hyalinipennis and Prorops nasuta) is ineffective because of their low reproductive capacity relative to CBB, their host-feeding behavior, and phenological mismatches with CBB life stages.2.Of the parasitoids, the eulophid P. coffea has the greatest potential to suppress CBB infestation levels, though the fungal pathogen B. bassiana and insecticides are reported to have detrimental effects on its establishment and dynamics.

Highlights

Coffee (Coffea arabica) is native to Ethiopia and was introduced to the Americas in 1723 (Ferré, 1991)
Colombian study The dynamics of coffee berry borer (CBB) infested berries in the absence of the parasitoids are depicted in Fig. 2a and predict CBB infestation of berries of 64.67%
A single release of Cephalonomia stephanoderis (Cs). stephanoderis at 10 CBB infested berries/plant resulted in a 21.06% reduction of CBB infested berries on the plant and an 11.35% reduction in infestetation in shed berries on the ground

Summary

Introduction

Coffee (Coffea arabica) is native to Ethiopia and was introduced to the Americas in 1723 (Ferré, 1991). The coffee berry borer (CBB = Hypothenemus hampei) (Curculionidae: Scolytinae) is native to West Africa (Hopkins, 1915) and is the most destructive pest of. Coffee worldwide (International Coffee Organization, 2007; Vega et al, 2009; CABI, 2011). It was first found in Brazil in 1922 (CostaLima, 1924), spread to Central America and Mexico between 1971 and 1978 (Carrillo and Campos 1991; Munoz-Hernández, 1991; Villanueva-Marrufo, 1991), and was first found in Colombia in 1988 (Bustillo, 2006). Like other Scolytinae, CBB females form galleries for the development of progeny (Vega and Hoffstetter, 2014). A female CBB bores into the calyx end of a single berry and forms galleries in the seed. Considerable effort has occurred to develop strategies for control of CBB, including classical and augmentative biological control using introduced parasitic wasps (parasitoids), nematodes

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Discussion

Conclusion