The silk farmers then kill most caterpillars by heat, leaving some to metamorphose into moths to breed the next generation of caterpillars.

The container's transparent sides will give you a fascinating view, but they can also let in the sun and as overheating will kill caterpillars very quickly it is important to keep the tank in a shady spot.

The earliest record of the now known rotenone-containing plants used for killing leaf-eating caterpillars was in 1848.

They kill caterpillars and flies, acting as pest control rather than pests.

Mr. Bailey remembers that summer job he had in high school spraying trees to kill caterpillars.

Last month, researchers at Cornell published findings that genetically altered corn, designed to produce pollen toxic to pests, could also kill caterpillars of the monarch butterflies, whose principal breeding range is the American corn belt.

It kills other leaf-eating caterpillars and so wipes out butterflies, which are to rank-and-file bugs what Glinda the Good Witch was to witches with nose warts and pointy hats.

DDT has also been known to kill beneficial insects, such as wasps that kill caterpillars that, unchecked, destroy thatched roofs.

A. A strain of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) paralyzes the digestive system and kills leaf-eating caterpillars in the insect order of Lepidoptera.

About 20 percent of last year's crop was of the modified variety, which exudes a toxin in the leaves and pollen that kills caterpillars and other pests that attack the plant above ground.