I turn on the light in my kitchen that night, and then I see it. I draw back后退, and my first instinct is to scream. I control myself with difficulty , but find myself shuddering(因寒冷、害怕或激动)发抖, unable to deal with the creature before me. It’s only a cockroach, but its large size, long antennae触角, shiny appearance, and spiny(动植物)带刺的 legs, all present a particularly disgusting appearance. And this is not just to me, but to everyone it seems, even to the point of phobic厌恶的 responses.
This is certainly the overriding最重要的 reason I want these creatures totally eradicated根除 from my apartment, but with their offensive odour, passive transportation of microbes微生物, and trails痕迹 of droppings, they also pose a distinct threat to domestic hygiene. Clearly, cohabitation is not possible. So, I do all I can to keep these pests away. Food is stored in sealed containers, garbage cans have tight lids, my kitchen is kept spotlessly clean, and my apartment swept and mopped用拖把擦干净 nightly. I have also sealed up possible entry points, but still, these loathsome令人厌恶的 things find their way inside. I need a way to kill them.
The most precise cockroach killer is, typically, another insect. A specific species of wasp黄蜂 targets these creatures. With a quick accurate swoop突然袭击, it bites the cockroach at the main nerve centre of its body, which results in a temporary paralysis. This is very necessary, as we all know just how fast cockroaches can run. The wasp has only a few minutes to prepare its next sting, in the exact area of the brain which controls the cockroaches’ instinct to escape. After the paralysis departs, the cockroach is subdued制服 and docile驯服的, and doomed注定要失败(或毁灭)的. The wasp bites off the antennae to further discourage flight, then drags its victim away.
Faced with such predation捕猎行为, cockroaches usually conceal隐藏 themselves during the day, and with their ability to flatten their bodies, they can disappear into just about any tiny nook僻静处; 幽静的角落, crevice裂缝, and cranny小孔. There, they wait patiently for darkness before emerging to search for food, and will usually run away when exposed to light. Given this, I am told that the slim and agile house centipede蜈蚣 is probably the most effective cockroach predator, able to track down追踪到 and root out铲除 the most carefully hidden prey. Unfortunately, I would say that centipedes are even more disgusting to have in one’s house, if that’s possible. I just can’t win this game.
Can anyone win? These insects are just about the hardiest, on the planet. Some can wait for up to three months before meals, some can survive on the barest hint of nutrition (such as the glue on the back of postage stamps), and some can live without air for over half an hour. They do not, however, handle cold weather well, preferring the warm conditions and security found within buildings.
Hidden there, the female lays egg capsules containing around 40 eggs, and with the insect’s relatively long lifespan (about a year), some 300 to 400 offspring can ultimately be produced. The result: once these insects have infested大批出没于 a building, they are very difficult to eradicate.
Cockroaches do, however, have some subtleties微妙之处. They leave chemical messages in their droppings(鸟、小动物的)粪, as well as emit airborne空气传播的 pheromones信息素 to signal other cockroaches about sources of food and water, and alert them to their own presence. The latter is more important, for these insects are actually somewhat gregarious群居的. Research has shown that cockroaches make group- based decisions, and tend to co-operate. One study placed a large number of cockroaches in a dish with three small shelters, and the insects divided themselves equally between two of them, leaving the third one empty. When these shelters were exchanged for two very large ones, all the cockroaches arranged themselves in just one. These creatures, it seems, prefer the company of others, and a rather fair allocation of resources.
Should I therefore feel any admiration? It is hard - in fact, in Western culture, cockroaches are almost universally depicted as repulsive令人厌恶的 and dirty pests. In the insect’s most famous literary appearance - Franz Kafka’s ‘The Metamorphosis’ - a man, Gregor, is transformed overnight into a monstrous丑陋的 insect, probably a cockroach (although the story never quite makes that clear). Gregor’s transformation results in very predictable responses from his family and friends, who can never accept him again. He eventually dies, outcast被抛弃的 and lonely, despised鄙视 and mistreated虐待- a potent很有效的 symbol of alienation疏远 and rejection. Yet in the Pixar animated feature ‘Wall-E’, a cockroach provides essential companionship to a lone单独的 robot living on a planet scorched by a nuclear holocaust大屠杀.
Whatever the case, I am faced with a big problem: a large ugly cockroach crawling(昆虫)爬行 slowly across my sink, antennae waving as it explores around. If I try to grab it, it will dart away飞奔而逃, and I doubt whether I’ll be able to catch it before it disappears into the numerous cracks裂缝 and crevices of my old apartment. So, I carefully remove my slipper拖鞋, determined to squash压碎 the insect, but then almost scream again as it lifts on its legs, raises membranous膜的wings, and with a loud buzzing noise, flies away. Oh, just what I need they can fly, too.
