Pilot Testing of an Area-Wide Biological Control Strategy against the Coffee Berry Borer in Colombia Using African Parasitoids.

The coffee berry borer (CBB), (Ferrari, 1867) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), native to Africa, is a major global insect pest of coffee. It has invaded many coffee production areas around the world that do not have natural enemies. In this study, two African parasitoids, Waterston (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae) and Waterston (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), were mass-reared for field release against in Chinchiná, Colombia. More than 1.5 million wasps of each species were released on a 61-hectare coffee farm in replicated plots, resulting in parasitism rates of up to 7.7% for and 56.3% for . This led to a maximum reduction in field populations of 81% from dispersal coffee plots (old coffee crops before plant stumping) and 64.3% in colonization coffee plots (new coffee crops with active growing and fruiting plants) within the farm. As a result of this area-wide strategy, the percentage of CBB-infested coffee berries in colonization coffee plots decreased from 51.1 to 77.5% compared to coffee plots without parasitoid releases. This approach offers a promising alternative to the use of chemical insecticides and could be integrated into current pest management programs to control .