Researchers say a tiny insect from Kisii is the next big thing

A tiny insect found in Kisii could save the global coffee industry over Sh39 billion ($500 million) it loses annually to one of the most devastating pests.

Researchers from Kenya and the US say the previously-ignored insect feeds on the eggs and larvae of the coffee berry borer and could play a major role in controlling the pest.

Dr Juliana Jaramillo from the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Nairobi and Dr Eric Chapman from the University of Kentucky in the US, say this discovery could have important implications for the management of coffee throughout the world.

The researchers, in a report published on Tuesday in The Science of Nature journal, say this is the time it has been quantitatively proven that the slender insect, Karnyothrips flavipes, is a serious predator of the coffee berry borer.

Previous studies were based on mere observations, for example of ants preying on the coffee berry borer.

The female borer usually drills holes into coffee berries where she deposits her eggs then the resultant larvae feed on the fruit as they grow.

It is usually very difficult to protect such fruits because the pest’s life cycle occurs mainly inside the coffee berry.

According to the journal, this is the first time the presence of a coffee berry borer predator has been identified in Africa.

Based on the findings, the two authors say, the insect has the potential to have a significant impact on coffee farming as it would help stabilise coffee harvests and market value.

The findings, according to the researchers, could point towards a new biological control agent that could be conserved and augmented in coffee-growing regions where the borer occurs.

The new findings come shortly after another study by Icipe and several universities showed that the borer was changing its habitats and moving to cooler regions.

In August, researchers from Icipe, Germany and the US analysed climate data from Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Colombia and concluded that the coffee borer could easily adapt to warming temperatures.

According to the study, published in the journal PLoS One on August 3, last year, farmers who will suffer the brunt of the beetle infestation include those around Mt Kenya and Mt Kilimanjaro regions.

The other problem and possibly what makes the new discovery more significant are reports that the beetle is building resistance to popular pesticides.

The insecticide, endosulfan, is the main compound so far used in the management of the coffee borer.

But studies on endosulfan have shown resistance in coffee borer populations, clearly calling for the development of alternative measures.

The coffee berry borer is the biggest pest of the crop throughout the world. It occurs in all coffee-producing countries, with the exception of Hawaii, Nepal and Papua New Guinea.

It is said to be a major problem to more than 20 million rural households in the tropics.