"I am sitting here in the town doing nothing and this is the farming season. When it starts raining, we will not be able to do any work," he told AFP, staring pensively at the road to his farm.

Known as army worms, the caterpillars -- one of the world's most destructive insects -- are gobbling up farmers' livelihoods in this impoverished west African country.

The insects invaded towns and villages in the central part of the country two weeks ago, causing some inhabitants to flee. More recently they crossed the border to Guinea, sparking fresh worries.

The Liberian government has asked the Economic Community of West African States regional bloc and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for support, Agriculture Minister Christopher Toe told AFP.

It is also sending teams to spray insecticide on trees, where the army worms hide during the day. But the equipment can only spray to a height of two meters (6.6 feet) -- and the insects just move higher up the trees.

"Those may be just short-term measures. To insure that these insects are totally eliminated, we may have to result to area spray," said Toe, who had arrived in Shankpalai to assess matters.

"We have to monitor the situation very closely because it may become a problem for the agriculture sector," said FAO's emergency coordinator in Liberia, Tim Vaessen, who was part of Toe's delegation.

Wenopolu said the insects were a menace.

"The caterpillars hang in the trees and when you are passing, they drop on you and bite you," the 38-year-old farmer said.

Black and yellow, about five centimeters (two inches) long, the army worms move in large groups and eat all crops including vegetables. When they reach maturity they can lay waste to an entire crop in a matter of days.

"My house is at the edge of the town near the bush. My husband and I were in the room during the night when the caterpillars got all over the house. We had to leave the house and seek refuge in the centre of the town," Bintu Jabateh, who is now staying with Wenopolu, said.

Local authorities insist something has to be done soon.

"Time for farming is fast moving," said Joseph Urey, Commissioner of Zota district, which houses most of the 21 villages affected, adding that the invasion could lead to a food shortage.

Experts say there are already millions of army worms in the region and warn they can reproduce quickly.

"They attack a completely wide range of host plant. They eat and move very aggressively. Every green plant material they see, they eat it. Because they move in groups, scientists refer to them as army worms," said Gregory Tarplah, an entomologist at the agriculture ministry.

To chase the pests, residents have tried to set fire to the trees housing the caterpillars, but have had no luck so far.

"When the fire goes off they come back, even more than before. We are just confused," villager Patrick Flomo said.

Now some farmers are getting desperate.

"The rice I harvested a month ago, I was keeping it on the farm," said one, Afred Kollie. "I cannot go there now and my family is running out of food."

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