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A biological caterpillar spray, which contains spores of bacteria which, when activated in the caterpillar's gut will prevent it from feeding. It will kill most small caterpillars, and is safe for all other garden life.
Also known simply as BT, it is available in may forms. The "donut" is for use in ponds, pools, or any other standing water for control of mosquito larvae. It is also available in granular form. It is considered safe to humans and non-target species.
Actually, Bacillus thuringiensis is name of the bacteria. Bt toxin is the compound (it's a peptide, about 80-100 amino acids if I remember correctly) which dissolves the intestinal (gut) lining of caterpillars. The toxin is very specific, i.e., you could drink a solution of it and it wouldn't do a thing to you or your pets (unless you had pet butterflies!)
I once worked in a biotech lab where we worked on putting Bt toxin genes into plants, so the plants made Bt toxin, the cutworms ate the plants, and died. yeah yeah Genetically modified foods...
