Xylosandrus crassiusculus (Motschulsky) on Cocoa Pods (Theobroma cacao L.): Matter of Bugs and Fungi.

Although the attacks of I X. crassiusculus i on cocoa pods were similar to those recently recorded on areca nuts [[18]], the modest number of plants attacked suggests that spermatophagy on cocoa pods is sporadic. Hence, an infestation of I X. crassiusculus i with fungal symbionts could interfere in the fermentation process of fresh cocoa beans and ultimately affect the marketable quality of dry cocoa beans. However, all the concealed damage symptoms (appearance of galleries inside pod husk, mucilage, and beans, and the location of immature stages of the pest within the infested pods) were systematically recorded after cutting open the infested pods ( I n i = 20) in the laboratory. Graph: Figure 6 (a) adult X. crassiusculus boring on an immature cocoa bean; (b) adult X. crassiusculus tunneling on mature cocoa bean; (c) staining of insect galleries with whitish-grey fungal hyphae; (d) eggs of X. crassiusculus with fungal symbionts in cocoa bean. [Extracted from the article]