Coffee’s Most Destructive Pest Is Accidentally Helping the Ants That Hunt It

A tiny coffee pest may be building the perfect hideout for its own predators. Coffee berry borers tunnel deep into coffee fruit, where they feed and reproduce beyond the reach of many predators. His observations provide the first documented evidence that small ants can reproduce inside spaces originally carved by coffee berry borers. Coffee berry borers spend most of their lives protected inside coffee fruit. By nesting inside coffee fruit, the ants remain close to places where new infestations are likely to appear.