十种身怀绝技的昆虫(下)

Beetles

5.蜣螂

There are two reasons why dung beetles are included in this list: poop and astronomy. This might surprise you, but these two seemingly-unrelated subjects have been connected by these incredible creatures.

将蜣螂列入这项名单的原因有两个：粪便和天文学。也许看到这儿你会非常吃惊，但是这两件看似不搭边的事情，却在蜣螂身上被神奇地结合了。

Dung beetles live a very disgusting lifestyle. They collect animal wastes, roll it up into a ball, and use it for several purposes. They can use the ball as their homes, lay their eggs on it, or if they're hungry, snack on it. Now, what's amazing is that dung beetles have the incredible ability to roll their "dung balls" in a straight line even at night! Intrigued by this fascinating ability, Marie Dacke, a biologist from Lund University in Sweden, conducted an experiment. She placed the dung beetles in a planetarium, and watched as the insects were able to successfully roll their dung ball in a straight line by using the "entire starry sky" make the experiment more interesting, Dacke decided to show only the Milky Way Galaxy. Surprisingly, the dung beetles were still capable of rolling their precious dung balls in a straight line. The conclusion: dung beetles are great recyclers and incredible astronomers.

蜣螂的生活方式可以说令人作呕。它们收集动物的粪便，把粪便滚成一个球。这个粪球对它们有很多用途，可以是它们的房子，育婴室，或者供它们充饥的一大块糕点。而令人惊奇的是，即使在伸手不见五指的夜里，蜣螂也总是能沿一条直线滚动粪球。瑞典隆德大学的一位生物学家——玛丽·达克——对蜣螂的这一奇特能力很好奇，并做了一项实验。她把蜣螂放入天象仪投射出的"星空"，观察蜣螂是否能沿直线滚动粪球。为了使实验更有趣，达克只投射出了银河系。而令人惊叹的是，蜣螂依旧沿着一条直线滚动着它们心爱的粪球。由此得出结论：蜣螂是滚粪球的专家，同时，也是不可思议的"宇航员"。

onflies

4.蜻蜓

We humans have the amazing ability of selective attention. Right now, you're using this power to eliminate various distractions and focus on reading and understanding this list. For many years, scientists have believed that only primates possess this amazing ability. However, a new research shows that a specific winged creature in the insect world is also capable of selective attention—dragonflies.

人类有个很神奇的能力，被称为"选择性注意"。阅读本篇文章时，你就是运用了这项能力，剔除其他影响，心无旁骛地将精力集中在阅读和理解上。多年以来，科学家们相信只有灵长类动物才具有这一神奇的能力。然而，一项新的研究成果表明，一种特殊的带翼昆虫也会"选择性注意"——蜻蜓。

Dragonflies have very small brains and yet, when hunting for food, they rely on selective attention. If a dragonfly sees a swarm of tiny insects, it's going to lock its attention on one prey alone. Through selective attention, it eliminates other potential prey within the swarm and focuses solely on its target. Dragonflies are very accurate when it comes to catching their prey. Their success rate is very high – 97 percent!

蜻蜓的大脑很小，然而，当追逐猎物时它们也依赖于"选择性注意"。面对一大群小虫子的时候，蜻蜓只会专注于捕捉其中的一只。通过"选择性注意"，它剔除了这群小虫中其他小虫的影响，只专注于捕捉它的目标猎物。蜻蜓在捕捉猎物时非常精准，成功率高达97%。

3.蚂蚁

Ants have the amazing ability of always finding their way back home even if they've wandered far away in search for food. Scientists have long known that ants employ various visual cues to remind them of where their colony is. However, in some places, like deserts, where there are no distinct landmarks, how do ants manage to find their way back home? This is the same question that Dr. Markus Knaden, Dr. Kathrin Steck, and Prof. Bill Hanson of the Max-Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Germany tried to answer with a very simple experiment.

蚂蚁很神奇的是，即使因为外出觅食而远离巢穴，它们也总能找到回去的路。科学家们早已经发现，蚂蚁可以利用很多视觉线索来当作返回巢穴的路标。然而，在诸如沙漠等没有明显地标的地方，蚂蚁又是怎样找到回家的路的呢？德国马克思慕朗科化学生态学研究所的马库斯·克纳登和卡特琳·施特克博士，以及比尔·汉森教授曾做了一个简单的实验来回答这个问题。

For their experiment, the scientists used Tunisian desert ants. They placed four different odors around the entrance of the ants' nest, and made sure that the entrance was barely visible. After letting the ants associate the odors with their nest, they were then removed and then placed in a different location, one with no nest and no entrance. Only the four odors used previously in the first location were risingly, the ants went to the area where the odors were located (the same spot where the nest entrance should have been)! This experiment proved that ants can smell in stereo, which means that they can sense two different odors at the same time from two unique directions. Moreover, it also proved that in places, like deserts, ants don't rely on visual cues. They create an "odor map" of their environment by relying on their "stereo sense of smell". As long as the odor is there, they will always find their way back home.

实验中，科学家们选用了突尼斯沙漠蚂蚁。他们在蚁巢出口周围散放了四种不同气味的东西，并确保蚁巢出口很隐蔽，不容易被看见。当蚂蚁已经将这四种气味和蚁巢建立起了联系，科学家们就把这四样东西从蚁巢出口附近移开，放置在没有任何巢穴和入口的地方。令人吃惊的是，蚂蚁爬到了这四样东西被移动到的地方（并且是先前蚁巢入口应该在的那个点）！这个实验证明，蚂蚁的嗅觉是立体的，它们可以同时闻到两个不同方位发出的不同气味。同时这个实验也证实了，在诸如沙漠的这些地方，蚂蚁并不依赖于视觉线索。它们通过"立体嗅觉"描绘出了周边环境的"气味地图"。只要气味还在，它们就不会迷路。

oo Wasps

2.巫毒黄蜂

Voodoo wasps are called such because of their "magical" ability to turn their prey or enemies into "zombies". This might sound like something you'd see in a sci-fi flick, but scientists have proven that voodoo wasps are indeed capable of inducing other insects into a zombie-like state. What's more eerie is that, once the insects become zombies, voodoo wasps can control them.

巫毒黄蜂之所以被称为"巫毒黄蜂"是因为它们像有"巫术"一样，可以将它们的猎物或者天敌变成听话的"僵尸"。这听起来就像是科幻小说里才会出现的桥段，但是科学家们已经证实，巫毒黄蜂确实有这样的能力，可以将其他昆虫诱变成"行尸走肉"。更奇异的是，化身"僵尸"的昆虫还会变成巫毒黄蜂最听话的仆人。

Voodoo wasps lay their eggs inside the bodies of young geometrid caterpillars. The larvae inside the caterpillars survive by feeding on the bodily fluids of their host. Once the larvae achieve full development, they find their way out of the caterpillar's body by eating its skin. Then, they create a cocoon and attach themselves into a leaf or a branch. Here comes the slightly terrifying, yet equally fascinating part. The host the caterpillar doesn't leave the cocoon — instead of doing its usual business, the caterpillar acts as the cocoon's bodyguard, protecting it from various archers conducted an experiment which showed that infected caterpillars do become the "zombie bodyguards" of voodoo wasps by introducing stinkbugs. Caterpillars which were not infected didn't do anything to stop the stinkbug from going near the cocoon. On the other hand, infected caterpillars protected the cocoon by knocking the bug off the branch. Scientists don't know why the infected caterpillars protect the cocoon. However, they did find out that this incredible ability of voodoo wasps is crucial for their survival.

巫毒黄蜂将卵产在幼生期的尺蠖毛虫体内，孵化出的黄蜂幼虫以宿主的体液为食。一旦幼虫发育成熟，它们就咬破毛虫的皮肤钻出来，之后在树叶或枝杈上结茧。至此，最可怕也是最精彩的部分就来了——尺蠖毛虫非但没有离开茧去继续它的生活，反而像个保镖一样守在茧旁，替黄蜂幼虫抵抗各种捕食者。研究人员引导臭虫接近黄蜂幼虫的茧，通过这个实验证实了尺蠖毛虫确实被蜂毒变成了"僵尸保镖"。他们发现，正常的尺蠖毛虫对臭虫的行为没有任何反应，而中了蜂毒的尺蠖毛虫则像保镖一样展开了攻击。科学家们目前还没有研究出为什么蜂毒可以使尺蠖毛虫保护虫茧，但可以肯定的是，巫毒黄蜂的这一能力对它们的生存是至关重要的。

ardier Beetle

1.放屁甲虫

When it comes to defensive strategies in the insect world, nothing beats the Bombardier beetle. This creature has the incredible ability to fire a hot mixture of chemical solution strong enough to injure its enemies. The toxic solution sprayed by the beetle can reach an impressive temperature of 212 degrees Fahrenheit, or 100 degrees Celsius.

谈到昆虫的防卫策略，放屁甲虫的本事绝对位居榜首。这种小虫子有一项绝技，它们可以喷射出一种高温的化学溶液混合物，以此来攻击它们的天敌。值得一提的是，放屁甲虫喷射出的有毒溶液温度高达华氏212度，或者说摄氏100度。

But what's even more fascinating is the intricate design of the Bombardier beetle's body. You see, the two chemicals, hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinone, which this insect uses to injure its enemies are dangerous and fatal. If not stored and combined properly, these chemicals would cause the Bombardier beetle to explode! Were it not for their well-designed bodies, Bombardier beetles would have never existed. At the end of this insect's abdomen are two glands. These two glands separate the hydrogen peroxide from the hydroquinone. If the Bombardier beetle feels threatened, its sphincter muscles will squeeze the right amount of chemicals into a certain body part where they are mixed together with other toxic substances. The result is a hot mixture of toxic chemicals capable of hurting the Bombardier beetle's enemies.

更吸引人的是放屁甲虫复杂的身体构造。它们用来抵御天敌的两种化学溶液。过氧化氢和对苯二酚，都是高危致命的化学品。如果储存和混合不当，放屁甲虫就会被炸得粉身碎骨。如果不是完美的身体构造，根本不会有放屁甲虫这个物种的存在。在放屁甲虫的下腹尾端有两条腺体，分别储存着过氧化氢和对苯二酚。当放屁甲虫感受到威胁时，它们就会收缩括约肌，将适量的化学溶液挤压进特殊的混合腔。最后将混合后的高温有毒混合物喷射出体内，重伤天敌。

翻译：程锦 来源：前十网