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Title: Visualizing the mesothoracic spiracles in a bark beetle: The coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei

Author
item Vega, Fernando
item Bauchan, Gary
item INFANTE, FRANCISCO - Ecosur
item VALDEZ-CARRASCO, JORGE - Colegio De Postgraduados
item BEAVER, ROGER - Retired Non ARS Employee

Submitted to: Annals of the Entomological Society of America
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/22/2015
Publication Date: 5/1/2015
Citation: Vega, F.E., Bauchan, G.R., Infante, F., Valdez-Carrasco, J.M., Beaver, R. 2015. Visualizing the mesothoracic spiracles in a bark beetle: The coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei. Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 108:446-448.

Interpretive Summary: The coffee berry borer is the most devastating pest of coffee throughout the world and causes millions of dollars in losses each year. A better understanding the basic biology of the insect can be helpful in developing biologically based insect pest management methods. In this paper we report on the location of the mesothoracic spiracles in female coffee berry borers. This information will be of use to coffee scientists, entomologists, and the coffee industry.

Technical Abstract: In a low-temperature scanning electron microscopy study aimed at determining whether the coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari); Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) possesses mycangia, we fortuitously detected the mesothoracic spiracles, which are usually concealed. The mesothoracic spiracles are ventro-laterally located in the intersegmental membranes between the prothorax and mesothorax, and contain a large number of setae. This is the first study that includes photographs of the mesothoracic spiracles in a bark beetle.