A researcher from the University of Michigan has identified a never-before-documented ant behaviour that could protect coffee plants from berry borers, one of the industry’s most damaging pests. Ants are known to be effective biological control agents against coffee berry borers, with some species preying on adult female coffee berry borers when they move between coffee cherries looking for new berries to infest. And this might actually help to maintain more diverse ant communities directly on the coffee plants.” While conducting research for a different study, he collected samples of coffee berries that had, at one point, been infiltrated by the borers, then evicted by ants. Globally, the economic losses due to coffee berry borer outbreaks are estimated at up to US$1 billion per year.