U-M researcher discovers new ant behavior that could help protect coffee from pests

by Matt Davenport, University of Michigan
July 28, 2026

Ants are known allies in the fight against coffee pests known as coffee berry borers. Now, a discovery made by Jonathan “Jonno” Morris while he was a University of Michigan graduate student has revealed there may be a new dimension to this protection.

Ecologists have known that large ants eat the berry borers and stymy the pests’ efforts to colonize coffee plants. And small ants can root the borers out of the homes they make for themselves in coffee fruits. Morris has, for the first time, observed that small ant species can then use the habitats in the fruits for their own reproduction.

“In terms of pest control, this is primarily a good thing because it’s benefiting the ants in terms of their populations and fitness. The ants gain this reproductive benefit that’s originally created by the coffee pest. And this might actually help to maintain more diverse ant communities directly on the coffee plants,” said Morris, who made this discovery as a graduate student at the U-M School for Environment and Sustainability, or SEAS.

Keep reading: https://news.umich.edu/u-m-researcher-discovers-new-ant-behavior-that-could-help-protect-coffee-from-pests/

Read the Ecology paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.70463