科普知识学英语 豆叶可诱捕臭虫.docVIP

Inspired by a traditional Balkan bedbug?remedy（补救，治疗）, researchers have documented how microscopic hairs on kidney bean leaves effectively stab and trap the biting insects, according to findings published online today in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. Scientists at UC Irvine and the University of Kentucky are now developing materials that mimic the geometry of the leaves. Bedbugs have made a dramatic comeback in the U.S. in recent years, infesting everything from homes and hotels to schools, movie theaters and hospitals. Although not known to transmit disease, their bites can cause burning, itching,?swelling（肿胀）?and psychological distress. It helps to catch infestations early, but the nocturnal parasites ability to hide almost anywhere, breed rapidly and hitchhike from place to place makes detection difficult. They can survive as long as a year without a blood meal. ? Current commercial prevention methods, including freezing, extreme heating, vacuuming and pesticides, can be costly and unreliable. Many sufferers resort to ineffective, potentially dangerous measures, such as spraying nonapproved insecticides themselves rather than hiring a professional. ? Doctoral student Megan Szyndler, entomologist Catherine Loudon and chemist Robert Corn of UC Irvine and?entomologists（昆虫学者）?Kenneth Haynes and Michael Potter of the University of Kentucky collaborated on the new study. ? Their work was motivated by a centuries-old remedy for bedbugs used in Bulgaria, Serbia and other southeast European countries. Kidney bean leaves were strewn on the floor next to beds and seemed to ensnare the blood-seeking parasites on their nightly forays. The bug-encrusted greenery was burned the next morning to?exterminate（消灭 ，根除）?the insects. ? Through painstaking detective work, the scientists discovered that the creatures are trapped within seconds of stepping on a leaf, their legs impaled by microscopic hooked hairs known botanically as trichomes. ? Using the bean leaves as tem