Ten Facts About the Kona Coffee Berry Borer Beetle Quarantine

The coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei) is a coffee pest that causes about a half a billion dollars damage to the world’s coffee crop annually including gourmet coffees such as Kona coffee and other Hawaii coffee. Overall the coffee industry overall generates about $90 billion each year. The coffee berry borer is a tiny beetle that is native to the African continent.
The coffee berry borer lays its eggs in the fruit of the plant which is known as the coffee cherry.
The eggs in the coffee fruit develop into larva. These larva then feed on the coffee bean that is located at the center of the coffee fruit.
Once the coffee berry borer beetle invades the fruit of a Kona coffee plant it may cause secondary infestation of other opportunistic organisms such as fungi, bacteria and other insects.
The damage caused by the coffee berry borer as well as the secondary effects can destroy the coffee beans or reduce the yield of the coffee trees on a Kona coffee farm.
The coffee berry borer infesting a Kona coffee plant will typically drill into the coffee cherry and within one or two days will lay about three or four dozen eggs.
Coffee berry borers are about 1.5 mm long. Females can fly a short ways but the males do not have wings.
The larval stage of the coffee berry borer lasts about two and one-half weeks.
It takes about thirty-four days from the time that a egg is laid by the coffee berry borer to the time the insect reaches adulthood.
Female coffee berry borer beetles live about 110 days while the males only live about forty days. One infested Kona coffee plant could potentially contain several generations of the coffee berry borer beetle.