Abundance and Diversity of Antestia Bugs Species, Antestiopsis Spp (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in Arabica Coffee Producing Regions in Tanzania

Abstract

Coffee production in Tanzania is cultivated by more than 400,000 farmers, 90% of which are smallholder farmers and the rest are estate owners. Infestation with Antestia bugs and subsequent damages has recently been reported to cause substantial economic loss due to the pest damages on coffee growing shoots, flowers and berries which degrades the quality of coffee beans. The diversity of Antestia bug in coffee growing areas in Tanzania had never been established. Studies conducted from September 2021 to August 2022 in typical smallholder Arabica coffee farmers in Kilimanjaro, Ruvuma and Songwe Regions established that only one species of Antestiopsis orbitalis (Westwood) exists with two subspecies namely A. o. bechuana Kirkidy and A. o. ghesquirei Carayon. Of the 749 collected specimen, 637 (85%) were A. orbitalis bechuana (A.o.b) and 112 (15%) were A. o. ghesquirei (A.o.g). The region-wise discretion of pest abundance suggested contribution of 62.44%, 26.90% and 10.65% by Kilimanjaro, Ruvuma and Songwe Regions respectively. A statistically
significant difference (P<0.001) was noted on the abundance of Antestia bugs whereby the dense shade canopy had higher pest population than in the sparsely shaded ones. The coffee fruiting phenology had a significant effect (P<0.001) effect on bug density. The current finding provided insights into the species diversity, abundance and distribution of Antestia bugs on Arabica coffee in Tanzania. Concerted efforts to manage the pests are highly advised to minimize the losses due to the alarming population density of the pest on coffee crop.