【龙腾网】科学家发现了世界上最大的蜂：华莱士巨蜂
The world's largest bee, also known asWallace's giant bee, is about four times larger than a European honeybee.
（图解：世界上最大的蜂，也被称之为“华莱士巨蜂”，大约是欧洲蜜蜂的四倍大）
After eluding researchers for nearly fourdecades, the world's largest bee has been discovered alive and well on adensely forested Indonesian island.
在避开研究者的耳目约四十年后，这种世界上最大的蜂已经被发现了活体，它在印度尼西亚一个森林浓密的岛屿上活得很滋润。
“It was absolutely breathtaking to see this ‘flying bulldog’ of aninsect that we weren’t sure existed anymore, to have real proof right there infront of us in the wild,” Clay Bolt, a natural history photographerspecializing in bees, said in a statement. “To actually see how beautiful andbig the species is in life, to hear the sound of its giant wings thrumming asit flew past my head, was just incredible."
“能看到昆虫中这只‘会飞的斗牛犬’就在我们眼前的野地留下了真正的证据实在是很激动人心，过去我们可是不敢确定它还继续存在着”，专拍蜂类的自然史摄影师克雷·博尔特在一则声明中这样说。“能在生活中真切地看到这个物种有多美多大，在它飞过我脑袋时能听到它那巨大翅膀发出的嗡嗡声，这简直让人难以置信。”
First discovered by Alfred Russel Wallacein 1859, Megachile pluto, also known as "Wallace's giant bee," has abody measuring roughly 1.5 inches long and a wingspan of nearly 2.5 inches. Italso features a set of imposing pinchers, which it uses to gather resin andwood for its nest. The species is so incredibly rare and elusive, that itwasn't seen again until 1981 when American biologist Adam Messer discovered thenests of six solitary giants.
它于1859年由阿尔弗雷德·拉塞尔·华莱士首次发现，也被称为“华莱士巨蜂”，经量体，长度大致为1.5英寸（3.8厘米），翼展大约是2.5英寸（6.3厘米）。它的另一个特色是一对壮观的口钳，筑巢时用来采集树脂和木头。该物种是如此得稀有和神出鬼没，以至于自1981年美国生物学家亚当·梅塞尔发现了六只独居蜂的巢以来，它再也没被见到过。
“Messer’s rediscovery gave us some insight, but we still know next tonothing about this extraordinary insect,” said trip member and bee expert EliWyman, an entomologist at Princeton University.
“梅塞尔的重新发现带给了我们一些深入的了解，但我们对于这种非凡昆虫的了解仍接近于零”，同行成员也是蜂类专家的伊莱·怀曼说，他是普林斯顿大学的昆虫学家。
A hard bee to find
一种难以觅踪的蜂
Wallace's Giant Bee, the world's largestspecies of bee, being photographed outside its nest somewhere in the Indonesianislands of North Moluccas.
（图解：印度尼西亚北摩鹿加岛某处，世界上最大的蜂种华莱士巨蜂正在蜂巢外被拍摄中）
In the quest to find a bee that many fearedhad gone extinct, Bolt and his team traveled to the Indonesian islands known asthe North Moluccas in January 2019. Both the location and timing matched theearlier discoveries made by both Wallace and Messer. They also knew that thegiant bees had a preference for using arboreal termite mounds for their nests.For four days, the team and local village guides climbed ladders and started attermite mounds for 20 minutes at a time for signs of the bee. On the fifth day,with all members of the team suffering from various illnesses, they decided tocheck out one more mound about eight feet off the ground.
为了搜寻一种很多人怕已经灭绝的蜂，博尔特和他的团队在2019年1月行至被称为北摩鹿加的印度尼西亚岛屿。这个地点和时间均符合华莱士和梅塞尔早年的发现。他们也知道这种巨型蜂在筑巢时偏爱使用树栖白蚁的白蚁丘。四天以来，该团队和当地村庄的向导爬上梯子开始在白蚁丘上搜寻这种蜂存在的迹象，每次20分钟。到第五天时，所有的队员都染上了各种不同的疾病，他们决定再检查一座距地面八英尺（2.44米）高的蚁丘。
"Eli climbed up and immediately feltfor certain that it was a bee nest," Bolt wrote in an account of thediscovery. "The structure was just too perfect and similar to what weexpected to find. I climbed up next and my headlamp glinted on the mostremarkable thing I’d ever laid my eyes on. I simply couldn’t believe it: We hadrediscovered Wallace’s Giant Bee."
“伊莱爬了上去，立刻就觉察到那确凿无疑是个蜂巢”，博尔特在这次发现的报道中如此写到。“那种构造实在是太完美了，而且和我们期待着能找到的那种很相像。我跟着爬了上去，然后我那闪闪发光的照明灯照见了我迄今见过的最非凡的东西。我甚至都无法相信：我们已经发现了华莱士巨蜂。”
After capturing the female specimen, theteam took photos and video (shown below), and then carefully returned the beeto her nest. "We were elated," added Bolt.
在捕获了这只雌性样本后，该团队拍下了照片和视频，然后小心翼翼地把这只蜂放回了她的巢。博尔特补充道，“当时我们兴高采烈”。
The sting of regret
关于蛰针的遗憾
As you might expect, the world's largestbee also comes with a giant stinger. Surprisingly, however, the one thing theresearchers lamented was the fact that they did not have the opportunity tofeel its punch.
如你所预料的那样，这种世界最大的蜂也有着一根巨大的蛰针。然而让人惊讶的是，有件事是让研究者们扼腕叹息的，就是他们未曾有机会感受它蛰人的威力。
“We were very keen to be stung by the bee,” professor and team memberSimon Robson told the Sydney Morning Herald. "People who work on bees getvery excited about the pain levels of various bees, whether it's indifferent orlike being shot by a bullet. But because we only found one, we did not want toharass it too much."
“我们非常渴望被这种蜂蛰咬”，队员赛门·罗伯森教授告诉悉尼晨先驱晨报。“在各种蜂的蛰咬疼痛等级这件事上，研究蜂类的那些人会变得非常兴奋，无论是很轻微还是如同被子弹射中。但因为我们只找到了一只，我们不想过分侵扰它。”
Now that the bee's rediscovery has beenmade public, the team is working with Indonesian researchers and conservationgroups to help protect the critical habitat necessary for its survival.According to Global Wildlife Conservation — which earlier named the bee to itstop 25 most wanted species in its Search for Lost Species program — forestdestruction for agriculture is a growing issue for the Indonesian archipelago.
由于这种蜂的重新发现已经公诸于众，该团队正在和印尼研究者以及保护组织合作，以帮助保护这片关键的栖息地好让这种蜂生存下去。根据全球野生动物保护协会的说法，其在早些时候为了失落物种计划把这种蜂列入了前25位最需要被找到的物种，毁林造田是印度尼西亚群岛存在的一个日益严重的问题。
“I hope this rediscovery will spark future research that will give usa deeper understanding of the life history of this very unique bee and informany future efforts to protect it from extinction," added Wyman.
“我希望这个发现能鼓舞未来的研究，为我们带来对这种独特蜂类生命史的更深了解，并为保护它免于灭绝的未来努力提供信息”，怀曼说。
