University of Michigan work documents ants nesting in coffee berry borer tunnels

University of Michigan-linked field work published in Ecology reports the first documented cases of small ants reproducing inside chambers carved by coffee berry borers, a major pest of coffee fruit. Jonathan Morris observed the behavior on an organic shaded farm in Chiapas, Mexico, at a station established by ecologists Ivette Perfecto and John Vandermeer. After ants force borers from tunnels, some species clean and widen the galleries and rear brood there. Morris recorded seven ant species in previously infested fruit, with five showing reproduction, including the electric ant Wasmannia auropunctata and species of Pseudomyrmex, Nesomyrmex, and Procryptocerus. Morris said the nesting benefit may help sustain diverse ant communities on coffee plants and keep natural enemies near new infestations, though the study does not quantify crop-damage reduction. Ecologists frame the interaction as indirect niche construction, in which the pest builds structure that later aids its predators. The paper lists DOI 10.1002/ecy.70463.