White coffee borer

Adult beetles of the white coffee borer (also called white stemborer) are about 3 cm long and have very long antenna. They are dark brown greyish in colour; the wing cases are greyish white with dark markings near the end. Adult beetles feed on the bark of branches, causing little damage. Female beetles lay eggs on the trunks of trees usually at the base near the ground level. The whitish, legless larva burrows into the bark and the wood of the trunk and main roots. The larva pupates in a large chamber within the trunk. The attack by larvae causes serious damage, particularly if the trunks are almost ring-barked. Young trees may be killed.

Older trees wilt, turn yellow and produce a poor crop. Symptoms of attack are round exit holes of the adult beetles in the trunk and wood shaving extruding from the bark or from the roots just below soil level. The white borer can become a serious pest especially below 1500 m (5000 ft) on shallow or eroded soil near shade trees.