Americans should think twice before squashing bugs. Even though some insects bite, a new study says they make up for it by contributing more than US$57 billion (NT$1.85 trillion) a year to the US economy.
``Most insects tirelessly perform functions that improve our environment and lives in ways that scientists are only beginning to understand,'' said John Losey, the Cornell University professor who directed the study.
The study focused on several things that bugs do that are helpful to humans, and how much it would cost humans if they were gone.
PHOTO: AP
For instance, the researchers studied how much money is spent each year on observing or hunting wild animals, and how much those animals depend on insects for food. They found that without the bugs to feed the wild animals, the US economy would lose US $50 billion.
Some bugs also eat other harmful insects. The researchers looked at the amount of damage done by pests, and the losses that would result if there were no other insects to eat them. In that case, the US economy would lose US$4.5 billion.
Insects also help pollinate plants. The researchers found that the total value of all crops that are pollinated by insects is US$3 billion.
"Most people think of insects and (say) 'yuck.' They think about mosquitoes and flies. They don't realize just about everything in life is affected some way, somehow, by insects,'' said Lawrence Abrahamson, a scientist at the State University of New York. (ap)
美國人在打蚊蟲時可得三思而後行了，儘管某些昆蟲會咬人，但一項新研究指出，牠們藉著每年對美國經濟貢獻五百七十億美元（新台幣一兆八千五百億元）將功贖罪。
主持這份研究的康乃爾大學教授約翰．羅西指出：「我們的環境因多數昆蟲不停地發揮功能而獲得改善，而科學家才剛開始去了解牠們的生活型態。」
這份計劃著重於蟲子有益於人類的貢獻，以及人類若失去牠們將付出的代價。
例如，研究人員研究每年花費於觀察及狩獵野生動物的金額，及動物依賴昆蟲為食的程度，發現野生動物若無昆蟲為食，美國經濟將損失五百億美元。
有些昆蟲以害蟲為食，研究人員調查害蟲造成的損害，以及害蟲無其他昆蟲為天敵時所造成的損失，發現那會讓美國經濟損失四十五億美元。
昆蟲也有助於替植物傳送花粉。研究人員發現，靠昆蟲傳授花粉的作物總值達三十億美元。
紐約州立大學科學家勞倫斯*亞伯漢森指出：「多數人想到昆蟲就會說『噁心』，他們想到的是蚊子或蒼蠅，但是他們沒有意識到生命中的每件事物多少都跟昆蟲有關。」 （美聯社／翻譯：鄭湘儀）
★ Bilingual Story is a fictionalized account. 雙語故事部分內容純屬虛構。 Lucas was already on the ground before he fully understood what was happening. “Hurry! Kneel down!” someone shouted. The asphalt was warm against his knees. Around him, dozens of people lay flat in the narrow street outside Jenn Lann Temple in Dajia. Some pressed their hands together in prayer. Others closed their eyes. Lucas had only come to look at the temple. An hour earlier he had stepped into the noisy courtyard out of curiosity. Inside the main hall, people held incense sticks, bowed three times,
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