美国哈佛大学列宾逊教授最近发现很多昆虫都回避茶树和咖啡树,并发现这两种植物的某些天然物质对昆虫有毒杀作用。列宾逊教授把咖啡和茶树的组织磨成粉末加入喂毛虫(鳞翅目幼虫)的食物中,咖啡粉为10％,茶树粉为3％,毛虫摄取少量这种食物后即丧失食欲,不再摄食,并停止生长,丧失控制肌肉运动的能力,不能脱皮而被困死在未脱掉的皮内。若食物中含有更多的咖啡或茶树粉,刚孵化出的小毛虫食后24小时内即死亡。 Recently, Professor Robinson of Harvard University in the United States found that many insects avoided tea trees and coffee trees and found that certain natural substances of these two plants were poisonous to insects. Professor Robinson crushed the tissues of coffee and tea trees into a powder to feed caterpillars (lepidopteran larvae) containing 10% coffee powder and 3% tea tree flour. The caterpillar lost appetite after consuming a small amount of this food, Re-feeding, and stop growing, losing control of muscle function, can not be peeling and stuck in the skin has not been taken off. If the food contains more coffee or tea powder, the newly hatched caterpillars die within 24 hours after eating.