> caffeine seems to be fairly toxic, to a variety of creatures. Yes, this may well be it. I found this in a USDA webpage: <http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/Publications.htm?seq_no_115=134713> > Of more than 800 insects reported on coffee, the coffee berry borer is the > only one that has developed the ability to exploit the coffee bean as a > food source. This is remarkable due to the many reports of caffeine > toxicity to insects and the caffeine content in the coffee seed which > averages 1.1 - 1.7% in Coffea arabica L. and 2 - 3% in C. canephora > (robusta). Of course, caffeine content of a few bottles of Coca-Cola sprayed onto a whole field of crops wouldn't reach any 1% concentration, but apparently could still maybe be enough. --- Brent