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ANDUNG, West Java: The decline in the bird population in Bandung has been blamed for the caterpillar attack on the Setrasari housing complex that began at the end of last month.

At least five houses in the complex were reportedly attacked by the caterpillars, prompting the municipal agricultural agency to spray insecticide and sprinkle poison on three of the houses worst hit by the insects.

Deni Jimmy, whose house was among the five attacked, said thousands of caterpillars had since last week flocked to his house, occupying the front yard up to the bedroom.

He said he could not get rid of them using insecticide spray because they were too numerous to kill. "When one dies after the spraying, more and more come. It's really embarrassing because friends and guests can't stay long at my house. They feel disgusted," Deni said Thursday.

The caterpillars, locally known as grayak, reportedly originated from an empty site with dense bushes.

Aan Darmanah of the agricultural agency's pest control division blamed the attack on the decreasing population of birds in the local environment.

Tedy Setiadi, coordinator of the Bird Conservation Society (BICONS), agreed, saying the bird population had decreased significantly in Bandung due to the massive conversion of open green fields into housing areas.