2019年经济学人 害虫防治:弦理论(1)

 

Few pests wreak¹ more havoc² on coffee plantations⁴ than the berry-borer beetle⁵.

咖啡浆果甲虫能对咖啡种植园造成很大破坏，很少有害虫能比它们更厉害。

In Brazil alone its depredations⁶ are reckoned to cost $300m a year,

仅在巴西，预计其造成的损失为每年三亿美元，

so keeping the insects under control is a priority for plantation³ owners around the world.

因此对全世界的种植园主而言，控制这些昆虫成为头等大事。

That is easier said than done. Berry borers spend most of their lives inside the berries.

说比做要容易。浆果蛀虫一生大部分时间都呆在浆果中。

Their eggs hatch there. Their larvae⁷ feed, grow and pupate there. And their adults mate there.

它们在那里孵卵。它们的幼虫在那里进食、生长和化蛹。成年后也在那里交配。

Only pregnant females seeking another berry to lay their eggs actually see the light of day. This makes attacking the beetles⁸ with insecticides tricky⁹.

仅有怀孕的雌性会出来寻找另一颗浆果产卵，那时它们才真正见到了阳光。因此难以用杀虫剂对付它们。

Researchers have, however, known for some time that a species of Central American ant called Azteca sericeasur is adept¹⁰ at keeping berry-borer populations at bay.

但研究人员知道一种被称为Azteca sericeasur的中美洲蚂蚁很擅长牵制这种咖啡浆果蛀虫的数量。

These ants live in trees grown alongside coffee bushes to provide shade—for coffee bushes do not thrive in direct sunlight.

这些蚂蚁住在树上，而这些树和咖啡灌木共同生长并为它们提供树荫，因为在阳光直射的地方咖啡灌木无法茁壮成长。

In particular, the ants prefer to nest in a tree called the cuaniquil.

这些蚂蚁尤其喜欢在一种被称为cuaniquil的树上筑巢。

The question is how to encourage Azteca's foraging¹¹ workers down from their cuaniquil eyries

问题是如何能鼓励Azteca的觅食工从它们位于cuaniquil树上的巢穴中出来

and into coffee bushes in large enough numbers to keep berry borers under control.

并大批进入咖啡灌木中抑制这些浆果蛀虫。

And, as they report in Biotropica, Esteli Jimenez-Soto of the University of California, Santa Cruz,

并且正如他们在《Biotropica》期刊中所述，圣克鲁兹加利福尼亚大学的Esteli Jimenez-Soto

and Jonathan Morris of the University of Michigan think they have an answer: build bridges.

以及密歇根大学的Jonathan Morris认为他们有了一个答案：建立桥梁。

Working with a team of colleagues, Dr Jimenez-Soto and Dr Morris studied a coffee plantation in Chiapas, Mexico.

通过和同事合作，Jimenez-Soto博士和Morris博士对墨西哥恰帕斯的一个咖啡种植园进行了研究。

All of the coffee bushes there were growing under a canopy¹² of shade trees, and some of these trees were cuaniquil.

所有咖啡灌木都在能遮荫的树下生长，并且其中一些树就是cuaniquil树。

The researchers selected 20 sites, each separated from the others by at least ten metres, for their experiment.

研究人员选择了20个地方用于实验，且每处相隔至少10米。

All included a cuaniquil that hosted an active ant colony and six coffee bushes that were not touching¹³ one another.

每一处都有一棵蚁群寄居的cuaniquil树以及六个互不干涉的咖啡灌木。

To the trunks of three of these bushes, selected at random¹⁴, they tied strings¹⁵ that led to branches of the ant-bearing cuaniquil.

他们随机从这些灌木中选择了三支，并绑上了线以连接cuaniquil树的树干。

1 wreak   

v.发泄；报复

参考例句：

• She had a burning desire to wreak revenge.她复仇心切。
• Timid people always wreak their peevishness on the gentle.怯懦的人总是把满腹牢骚向温和的人发泄。

2 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

3 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

4 plantations   

n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Soon great plantations, supported by slave labor, made some families very wealthy. 不久之后出现了依靠奴隶劳动的大庄园，使一些家庭成了富豪。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Winterborne's contract was completed, and the plantations were deserted. 维恩特波恩的合同完成后，那片林地变得荒废了。 来自辞典例句

5 beetle   

n.甲虫，近视眼的人

参考例句：

• A firefly is a type of beetle.萤火虫是一种甲虫。
• He saw a shiny green beetle on a leaf.我看见树叶上有一只闪闪发光的绿色甲虫。

6 depredations   

n.劫掠，毁坏( depredation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Protect the nation's resources against the depredations of other countries. 保护国家资源，不容他人染指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Hitler's early'successes\" were only the startling depredations of a resolute felon. 希特勒的早期“胜利”，只不过是一个死心塌地的恶棍出人意料地抢掠得手而已。 来自辞典例句

7 larvae   

n.幼虫

参考例句：

• Larvae are parasitic on sheep.幼虫寄生在绵羊的身上。
• The larvae prey upon small aphids.这种幼虫以小蚜虫为食。

8 beetles   

n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Beetles bury pellets of dung and lay their eggs within them. 甲壳虫把粪粒埋起来，然后在里面产卵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This kind of beetles have hard shell. 这类甲虫有坚硬的外壳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

10 adept   

adj.老练的，精通的

参考例句：

• When it comes to photography,I'm not an adept.要说照相，我不是内行。
• He was highly adept at avoiding trouble.他十分善于避开麻烦。

11 foraging   

v.搜寻（食物），尤指动物觅（食）( forage的现在分词 )；（尤指用手）搜寻（东西）

参考例句：

• They eke out a precarious existence foraging in rubbish dumps. 他们靠在垃圾场捡垃圾维持着朝不保夕的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The campers went foraging for wood to make a fire. 露营者去搜寻柴木点火。 来自辞典例句

12 canopy   

n.天篷，遮篷

参考例句：

• The trees formed a leafy canopy above their heads.树木在他们头顶上空形成了一个枝叶茂盛的遮篷。
• They lay down under a canopy of stars.他们躺在繁星点点的天幕下。

13 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

14 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

15 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。