The featured insect of the week at the North Carolina State University Insect Museum blog is the coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei, a.k.a. “la broca”), the extremely tiny insect with the enormous impact on coffee worldwide. The post outlines the life cycle of the CBB, which is frankly fascinating, from an evolutionary and entomological perspective.
Featuring the CBB also serves to announce that Fernando Vega, an expert on the CBB at the USDA Agriculture Research Service will be giving a talk next week entitled, An emerging threat to our morning brew: The coffee berry borer. It will be held on the NCSU campus at the David Clark Labs at 3:30 PM on April 14. Dr. Vega’s research involves an ecosystem approach to CBB control, and includes investigating fungal and nematode enemies and relationships.
More here at C&C on the CBB:
- Research on climate change and the spread of the coffee berry borer
- Research on pesticide resistance in the coffee berry borer