Agriculture officials are preparing to make a special pesticide available to farmers in Jiading, Songjiang and other suburban districts of Shanghai who have seen their crops ravaged by cotton leafworms.

The farmers say common pesticides are useless against the pests.

The cotton leafworm, or prodenia liture, is a notorious pest found in crops and grasslands, according to an engineer surnamed Xia with the Shanghai Greenery Management and Controlling Station.

The station has begun to monitor the cotton leafworm and added it to a list of 25 major insects in the city.

Xia said the worms like warm, humid weather, so their populations peak in August and September.

"The worms are dark and three to five centimeters long," Xia said.

In the most severe areas in Jiading District, farmers say they can crush more than 10 worms with one footstep and the pests have eaten 1.13 hectares of grass.

"We have issued three warning reports in the past two months about a possible outbreak of the pests."

"We will offer a special pesticide in one or two days," Xia said.

(Shanghai Daily September 12, 2005)