Beijing park's holiday caterpillar hunt targets 'forest food monster'

BEIJING, Oct 5 - For most families, China's "Golden Week" holiday is a time to relax, eat well, and visit the country's tourist hot spots.But at a wildlife park in Beijing, some people have been spending their holiday hunting for fall webworm larvae, an invasive species of caterpillar the park has dubbed "the forest food monster".Beijing Wildlife Park asked visitors to catch as many of the caterpillars as possible, rewarding those with the heaviest haul with prizes including as many as 10 park tickets. The caterpillar, native to North America, can damage more than 300 plant species including crops and fruit trees.After a crash course on how to spot the larvae, participants spread out across the nearly 550-acre (223-hectare) park with disposable gloves, plastic containers and chopsticks."Call for warriors! Battle the 'forest food monster' and win grand prizes!" read a poster behind a table stacked with containers of crawling caterpillars.More than 310,000 caterpillars with a combined weight of 47.65 kg (105.05 lbs) have been caught by some 2,077 people since the competition began on September 28.The fall webworm is a major pest in China and produces three generations a year. Beijing is currently experiencing peak damage from this year's third generation of larvae, China's Xinhua news agency reported earlier this week, quoting the chief scientist at the Chinese Academy of Forestry."(We've) noticed there are a lot of fall webworm larvae around us," said a 35-year-old participant surnamed Cui. "I think the Beijing Wildlife Park activity is very meaningful. It sparks the interest of our children, and (we) can even win a prize at the same time." REUTERS