Statewide Survey of Insects Found on Coffee in Hawaii

Abstract

Hawaii is home to a high number of endemic species, but the state is also considered a hotbed of invasive species. Coffee, like many crops grown in Hawaii, is particularly valuable and susceptible to a number of injurious pest insects not yet established in the islands. A comprehensive statewide survey of insects found on coffee plants has never been undertaken. Cultivated and feral coffee, at 46 sites on the six main Hawaiian Islands, was systematically surveyed for pest and innocuous insects. Surveys identified 152 unique insect species or morphotypes in 12 orders associated with coffee throughout the state. Some are major pests of coffee, such as the coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei, while others have little impact on coffee production. This survey identified no new state records but is the first to document the association of many of these insects with coffee plants.