Mister Bo-Bear, I ran your tip past Howard Garrett this morning. He has heard it, and said another thing that has the same effect is a dusting of diatomaceous earth. I asked about the range of bugs it would kill, and he seems to think it will work as well on katydids and grasshoppers as it will on caterpillars. My on-air quip was that I'd like to see it paste the rest of them (like aphids) in place and prevent their sucking. Howard speculated that maybe a mix of the two might indeed have the beneficial effect of not only blowing up the bugs with chewing mouth parts, but pasting (or at least gumming up) the others (like aphids) to the plant in the event of moisture.

Garden science in action! Let the tests begin!

SRS