Coffee root mealybug

The Coffee Root Mealybug (Geococcus coffeae) is a subterranean pseudococcid scale insect in the family Pseudococcidae that feeds on the roots of coffee plants and a range of other tropical and subtropical crops. Females are soft-bodied, covered in white waxy secretions that give mealybugs their characteristic powdery appearance, and remain largely immobile once settled on host roots. By extracting phloem sap from root tissues, infestations weaken plants, reduce yields, and can eventually kill heavily attacked trees, particularly in combination with drought stress or other pests. The species also facilitates colonisation by sooty mould fungi and may transmit plant-pathogenic viruses. Although its natural origin is uncertain, Geococcus coffeae is now distributed across tropical coffee-growing regions in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, and has also been introduced to parts of Europe, particularly in horticultural contexts. Management relies on systemic insecticides, particularly neonicotinoids, biological control using parasitic wasps and predatory beetles, and the avoidance of stressed growing conditions that increase plant susceptibility. Root mealybugs are often challenging to detect until infestations are severe because their subterranean habitat shields them from visual inspection. The species has not been formally evaluated by the IUCN.