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Pacific Pests & Pathogens - Mini Fact Sheet Edition

Cocoa pod borer (175)

Photo 1. Internal damage by larvae of cocoa pod borer, Conopomorpha cramerella.

Photo 2. Pupa of cocoa pod borer, Conopomorpha cramerella, inside a silk cocoon, on the underside of a leaf.

Photo 3. Adult cocoa pod borer, Conopomorpha cramerella, showing wing colouration and very long antennae.

Photo 4. Pods showing premature yellowing due to internal infestation of cocoa pod borer, Conopomorpha cramerella.

Summary

Widespread distribution. South and Southeast Asia, Oceania. Cocoa, Pacific lychee, rambutam, and cola are hosts. An important pest.
The borer is a moth. Eggs laid on the pods 2-6 weeks before maturity; the larvae hatch, tunnel into the pod and feed around the beans. Pods ripen early.
Considered one of the worse pest of cocoa, with losses of 20-50%.
Biosecurity: follow international guidelines. Several biotypes; non-pest strains in some Pacific island countries.
Cultural control: prune every 6 months to create open canopy on trees only 3 m high; pick pods as soon as yellow, and every 7 days, to interrupt life cycle of the moth; bury infested pods; area control is important, i.e., farmers in an area should all apply control measures simultaneously, otherwise moths will come from adjacent infested farms.
Chemical control: none recommended.

Common Name

Cocoa pod borer

Scientific Name

Conopomorpha cramerella. It was previously known as Acrocercops cramerella.

AUTHOR Grahame Jackson
Information from New Agriculturist on-line. (http://www.new-ag.info/00-1/develop/dev01.html); and from CABI (2015) Conopomorpha cramerella (cocoa pod borer) Crop Protection Compendium. (http://www.cabi.org.cpc/). Photos 1&2 End MJ, Daymond AJ, Hadley P Eds (2010) Technical guidelines for the safe movement of cacao germplasm (Revised from the FAO/IPGRI Technical Guidelines No. 20). Global Cacao Genetic Resources Network (CacaoNet), Bioversity International, Montpellier, France. Photo 3 Smilja Lambert ABC Rural Foreign aid to fight cocoa bug (2012). Photo 4 Cocoa pod borer. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Queensland Government.

Produced with support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research under project PC/2010/090: Strengthening integrated crop management research in the Pacific Islands in support of sustainable intensification of high-value crop production, implemented by the University of Queensland and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.

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