A simple way to tell insects apart

区分昆虫的简单方法

来源视频

A whip-like straw.

Powerful, crushing blades.

A pointed, piercing tube.

There are nearly a million  known insect species in the world,

but most have one of just  five common types of mouthparts.

弯曲、鞭子般的长管。

破坏力强大的爪子。

尖锐的刺管。

在这个世界上有着 数以百万种的昆虫物种，

然而多数昆虫都离不开 五种最普遍的口器。

And that’s extremely useful to scientists

because when they encounter  an unfamiliar insect in the wild,

they can learn a lot about it  just by examining how it eats.

Scientific classification, or taxonomy,

is used to organize all  living things into seven levels:

kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.

The features of an insect’s mouthparts can help identify which order it belongs to,

while also providing clues about how  it evolved and what it feeds on.

而这样的特征对科学家来说就很有帮助，

因为当他们发现了 一种他们不熟悉的新昆虫物种时，

就能通过观察它们吃东西的方式 来很好的对它们进行研究。

科学分类，更准确的说：“生物学分类”，

是用 7 个级别来分类所有的生物的：

界、门、纲、目、科、属、还有种。

而昆虫口器的特征就能 帮助我们定位它属于哪一个目，

同时也能告诉我们它如何进化 以及它的食物来源。

The chewing mouthpart is the most common.

It’s also the most primitive—

all other mouthparts are thought to have  started out looking like this one

before evolving into something different.

It features a pair  of jaws called mandibles

with toothed inner edges that cut up  and crush solid foods,

like leaves or other insects.

咀嚼式口器是最常见的一种类型。

这也是最为原始的一种类型——

其它所有的口器都被认为

是从这一种的模样进化而来的。

它具有的特征就是 这样一对爪子模样的下颌骨，

在其内侧有着用来碾碎、咀嚼用的牙齿，

通常吃的东西是 树叶或者是其它的昆虫。

You can find this mouthpart  on ants from the Hymenoptera order,

grasshoppers and crickets  of the Orthoptera order,

dragonflies of the Odonata order,

and beetles of the Coleoptera order.

这样的口器你可以在膜翅目的蚂蚁身上找到，

直翅目的蚱蜢，

蜻蜓目的蜻蜓，

和鞘翅目的甲虫。

The piercing-sucking mouthpart consists of a long, tube-like structure called a beak.

This beak can pierce plant  or animal tissue

to suck up liquids like sap or blood.

It can also secrete saliva  with digestive enzymes

that liquefy food for easier sucking.

第二种是刺吸式口器， 由一支叫做喙的长管组成。

这支喙可以刺入植物和动物组织

来吸取植物液或者是血液。

它同时也可以分泌出具有消化酶的唾液

来更好的消化食物以帮助吸取。

Insects in the Hemiptera order  have piercing-sucking mouthparts

and include bed bugs,

cicadas,

aphids,

and leafhoppers.

半翅类的昆虫就具有这样刺吸式的口器，

其中包括臭虫、

蝉、

蚜虫、

叶蝉。

The siphoning mouthpart,

a friendlier version  of the piercing and sucking beak,

also consists of a long, tube-like  structure called a proboscis

that works like a straw  to suck up nectar from flowers.

虹吸式口器，

一种比较友好一点的刺吸式口器，

也是由一根称作长嘴的的管状组织构成，

它就像一根吸管一样吸取花中的花蜜。

Insects of the Lepidoptera order—

butterflies and moths—

keep their proboscises rolled up tightly beneath their heads

when they’re not feeding

and unfurl them when  they come across some sweet nectar.

鳞翅类的昆虫——

蝴蝶或者是蛾——

当它们不在进食时

就会把口器紧紧 卷起来收在它们的头部下方，

而当它们开始吸食花蜜时就会将其展开。

With the sponging mouthpart, there’s yet another tube,

this time ending in two spongy lobes

that contain many finer  tubes called pseudotracheae.

The pseudotracheae secrete  enzyme-filled saliva

and soak up fluids  and dissolved foods by capillary action.

House flies,

fruit flies,

and the other non-biting  members of the Diptera order

are the only insects  that use this technique.

舔吸式口器，另外一种喙管，

不过这次末端是两个海绵似得垂体，

其中包含了许多很细的管子，叫做拟气管。

拟气管通过毛细管作用来分泌充满酶的唾液，

渗入它们的食物。

家蝇、

果蝇、

以及许多其它双翅目不叮咬的昆虫，

都是使用这一方式的昆虫。

But, there’s a catch.

Biting flies within Diptera,

like mosquitoes,

horse flies,

and deer flies,

have a piercing-sucking mouthpart  instead of the sponging mouthpart.

不过，有一个问题。

双翅目中会叮咬的昆虫，

例如蚊子、

马蝇、

鹿虻、

是有着刺吸式的口器而非舔吸式的。

And finally, the chewing-lapping mouthpart is a combination of mandibles

and a proboscis with a tongue-like  structure at its tip

for lapping up nectar.

On this type of mouthpart,

the mandibles themselves  are not actually used for eating.

For bees and wasps, members of the Hymenoptera order,

they serve instead as tools  for pollen-collecting and wax-molding.

最后，嚼吸式口器， 是一种像舌头般的由下颌钳

和前段喙管结合而成的口器，

这样的构造是为了舔食花蜜。

在这种类型的口器中，

下颌钳其实并没有在进食中被使用到。

对于属于膜翅类的蜜蜂和黄蜂，

这一部分的器官更多会 作用于花粉的采集和蜂巢的模制。

Of course, in nature, there are always  exceptions to the rules.

The juvenile stages of some insects,  for example,

have completely different kinds  of mouths than their adult versions,

like caterpillars, which use chewing  mouthparts to devour leaves

before metamorphosing into butterflies and moths

with siphoning mouthparts.

当然，在自然中，总还是会有许多例外。

例如许多昆虫的幼虫时期，

有着和成年时期完全不同的口器类型，

比如毛虫在变成蝴蝶和飞蛾之前

会用咀嚼式口器来吞食叶子，

而蝴蝶和飞蛾则是虹吸式口器。

Still, mouthpart identification can,  for the most part,

help scientists—and you —categorize insects.

So why not break out a magnifying lens

and learn a little more about who’s nibbling your vegetable garden,

biting your arm,

or just flying by your ear.

然而，口器的识别在很大程度上

还是能够帮助科学家—— 包括你——来分类昆虫哒。

所以为什么不赶快开始拿出一个放大镜

来多研究一下到底是谁在啃你菜园的菜，

谁在叮你的胳膊，

或者说是谁在你耳边飞过。