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Title: FIRST FIELD REPORT FOR A NEMATODE (TYLENCHIDA: SPHAERULARIOIDEA) ATTACKING THE COFFEE BERRY BORER, HYPOTHENEMU HAMPEI (FERRARI) (COLEOPTERA: SCOLYTIDAE) IN THE AMERICAS

Authors
item Castillo, Alfredo - ECOSUR, MEXICO
item Infante, Francisco - ECOSUR, MEXICO
item Barrera, Juan - ECOSUR, MEXICO
item Carta, Lynn
item Vega, Fernando

Submitted to: Journal of Invertebrate Pathology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: December 20, 2002
Publication Date: March 1, 2002
Citation: CASTILLO, A., INFANTE, F., BARRERA, J.F., CARTA, L.K., VEGA, F.E. FIRST FIELD REPORT FOR A NEMATODE (TYLENCHIDA: SPHAERULARIOIDEA) ATTACKING THE COFFEE BERRY BORER, HYPOTHENEMU HAMPEI (FERRARI) (COLEOPTERA: SCOLYTIDAE) IN THE AMERICAS. JOURNAL OF INVERTEBRATE PATHOLOGY. 2002.

Interpretive Summary: The coffee berry borer is the most devastating pest of coffee throughout the world. Eggs are deposited inside coffee berries, and insects feed on the coffee seed, severely reducing yields. A search for natural enemies of the coffee berry borer conducted in Southwest Mexico, resulted in the discovery of a previously unrecorded natural enemy of the coffee berry borer, a new nematode species in the genus Sphaerulariopsis. Since the coffee berry borer is extremely difficult to control chemically, any report of a new natural enemy is significant. This finding is expected to help researchers develop new biological control methods to assist growers in managing this pest, which will ultimately benefit farm workers and consumers.

Technical Abstract: A new nematode species in the genus Sphaerulariopsis was discovered in Mexico. The nematode belongs to a family not previously known to infect the coffee berry borer. It is the first nematode parasite of the coffee berry borer described in the Western Hemisphere and only the second described worldwide. Parasitization by the nematode was found to reduce fecundity and increase mortality of the coffee berry borer.

   
 
 
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