With their long, spiky1 legs and their propensity2（倾向，习性） for eating anything, including each other, camel crickets are the stuff of nightmares. And now research from North Carolina State University finds that non-native camel cricket species have spread into homes across the eastern United States. The good news is that camel crickets dont bite or pose any kind of threat to humans, says Dr. Mary Jane Epps, a postdoctoral researcher at NC State and lead author of a paper about the research.The research stems from a chance encounter, when a cricket taxonomist（分类学者） found an invasive cricket in the home of one of the NC State researchers. Wondering how common the species might be in the U.S., the researchers tapped in to their citizen science network, which is part of Dr. Rob Dunns Your Wild Life lab. Dunn is an associate professor of biological sciences at NC State and co-author of the paper.The researchers asked the public whether they had camel crickets in their homes and, if so, to send in photos or mail in physical specimens3. The responses they got were surprising.The most common species reported, by more than 90 percent of respondents, was the greenhouse camel cricket . Native to Asia, this species was first sighted in the U.S. in the 19th century -- but it was thought to be rare outside of commercial greenhouses. Instead, the researchers found that it is now far more common than native camel crickets in and near homes east of the Mississippi.We dont know what kind of impact this species has on local ecosplayystems5 though its possible that the greenhouse camel cricket could be driving out native camel cricket species in homes, Epps says.The researchers also sampled the yards of 10 homes in Raleigh, North Carolina. They found large numbers of greenhouse camel crickets, with higher numbers being found in the areas of the yards closest to homes.The photos submitted by the public turned up a second surprise as well.There appears to be a second Asian species, Diestrammena japanica, that hasnt been formally reported in the U.S. before, but seems to be showing up in homes in the Northeast, Epps says. However, that species has only been identified based on photos. Wed love to get a physical specimen4 to determine whether it is D. japanica.The researchers stress that homeowners shouldnt panic if they find camel crickets in their homes.Because they are scavengers, camel crickets may actually provide an important service in our ba百度竞价推广ents or garages, eating the dead stuff that accumulates there, says Dr. Holly6 Menninger, director of public science in the Your Wild Life lab at NC State and co-author of the paper.We know remarkably7 little about these camel crickets, such as their biology or how they interact with other species, Menninger says. Were interested in continuing to study them, and theres a lot to learn.
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1 spiky adj.长而尖的，大钉似的 参考例句： Your hairbrush is too spiky for me.你的发刷，我感觉太尖了。 The spiky handwriting on the airmail envelope from London was obviously hers.发自伦敦的航空信封上的尖长字迹分明是她的。
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