Schoolchildren in the Far East have been mobilized to fight an invasion of silkworms and are being paid for every jar of the creepy-crawlies they collect.


An army of silkworms has crawled out of surrounding forests and marched into the city of Amursk, munching everything in its path, Itar-Tass reported Monday.


The silkworms have destroyed most of the greenery in the city, located about 6,200 kilometers east of Moscow, and authorities are paying the children 1,000 rubles (20 cents) for each liter-size jar collected.


But despite their efforts -- each child is amassing around 10 liters of the pests each day -- Itar-Tass said the town had no real means of battling the "unprecedented" invasion.