Artificial diet sandwich reveals subsocial behaviour in the coffee berry borer Hypothenemus hampei (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae)

Abstract

An artificial diet sandwich, consisting of coffee berry borer artificial diet within two glass plates, has been developed to elucidate the behaviour of the coffee berry borer, an insect that in nature spends most of its life cycle inside the coffee berry. Various types of behaviour have been observed for the first time, including gallery construction, oviposition, gallery blocking, mating and most remarkably, subsocial tasks such as maternal sanitation and tending of eggs and larvae. This observational technique is a breakthrough for studies and manipulations of the coffee berry borer's social behaviour and could be applicable to other bark beetles, consequently yielding important insights into the origin of parental care in scolytine beetles.