Why do plants make caffeine?
by 
Erin Albrecht
ANSWERS: 1
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It is a pesticide. Caffeine acts as a substitute for an inhibitory neurotransmitter, in insects as well as in humans (it blocks "slow down" messages that nerve cells send to each other). Because we can metabolize it, that is, we have enzymes which break down caffeine relatively rapidly, it merely makes us alert (and jittery, if we drink too much). However, insects (as with many other animals) lack those metabolizing enzymes, and so if they ingest caffeine they "hyper" themselves to death.
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