The loathsome, lethal mosquito - Rose Eveleth

Nyamuk yang membencikan dan membawa maut - Rose Eveleth

Translator: Sam HK Reviewer: Pei Fang Ng

What's the worst bug on the planet?

Serangga apakah yang paling menjengkelkan?

You might vote for the horsefly or perhaps the wasp,

Mungkin jawapan anda ialah lalat pikat atau tebuan,

Mungkin jawapan anda ialah lalat pikat atau tebuan,

but for many people,

tapi bagi banyak orang,

the worst offender is by far the mosquito.

jawapannya ialah nyamuk.

The buzzing, the biting,

Dengungan,

gigitan,

the itching,

rasa gatal,

the mosquito is one of the most commonly detested pests in the world.

nyamuk ialah salah satu jenis

serangga yang paling dibenci orang.

In Alaska, swarms of mosquitos can get so thick

Di Alaska, bilangan nyamuk yang banyak

that they actually asphyxiate caribou.

mungkin mengakibatkan rusa karibu mati kesesakan nafas.

And mosquito-borne diseases kill millions of people every year.

Setiap tahun, penyakit nyamuk

membunuh berjuta-juta orang.

The scourge that is the mosquito isn't new.

Nyamuk bukan serangga baru.

Mosquitoes have been around for over a hundred million years

Ia telah wujud

beratus-ratus juta tahun

and over that time have coevolved with all sorts of species,

dan sepanjang masa itu ia berevolusi

bersama spesies yang lain,

including our own.

termasuk manusia.

There are actually thousands of species of mosquitos in the world,

Terdapat beribu-ribu jenis spesies

nyamuk di dunia ini,

semuanya mempunyai satu persamaan:

but they all share one insidious quality:

they suck blood,

menghisap darah,

and they're really, really good at sucking blood.

dan ia sangat mahir menghisap darah.

Here's how they do it.

Ini caranya.

After landing, a mosquito will slather

Nyamuk akan taburkan air liur

some saliva onto the victim's skin, which works like an antiseptic,

pada kulit mangsa,

ia berfungsi seperti antiseptik

numbing the spot so we don't notice their attack.

yang menjadikan tempat itu kebas.

This is what causes the itchy, red bumps, by the way.

Ia akibatkan rasa gatal dan benjolan merah.

Then the bug will use its serrated mandibles

Kemudian, ia akan menggunakan mandibel yang bergerigi

to carve a little hole in your skin,

untuk membuat lubang kecil pada kulit anda

allowing it to probe around with its proboscis,

dan membolehkan probosisnya

dan membolehkan probosisnya

mencari saluran darah.

searching for a blood vessel.

When it hits one, the lucky parasite can suck

Selepas itu,

nyamuk mampu menghisap

darah yang beratnya 3 kali ganda berat badannya.

two to three times its weight in blood.

Turns out we don't really like that too much.

Kita benci digigit nyamuk.

In fact, humans hate mosquitos so much

Manusia begitu membencikan nyamuk

that we spend billions of dollars worldwide

sehingga kita membelanjakan berjuta-juta dolar

to keep them away from us --

untuk menggelakkan nyamuk,

from citronella candles

daripada minyak serai, penyembur nyamuk,

to bug sprays to heavy-duty agricultural pesticides.

daripada minyak serai, penyembur nyamuk,

sehingga racun perosak pertanian.

But it's not just that mosquitos are annoying,

Nyamuk bukan saja menjengkelkan,

they're also deadly.

ia juga membawa maut.

Mosquitos can transmit everything from malaria to yellow fever

Ia boleh menjangkitkan

deman malaria, demam kuning,

deman malaria, demam kuning,

to West Nile virus to dengue.

virus Nil Barat dan demam denggi.

virus Nil Barat dan demam denggi.

Over a million people worldwide

Setiap tahun, sebanyak sejuta orang

die every year from mosquito-borne diseases,

mati akibat daripada penyakit yang berkaitan dengan nyamuk,

and that's just people.

mati akibat daripada penyakit yang berkaitan dengan nyamuk,

Horses, dogs, cats,

Kuda, anjing dan kucing

they can all get diseases from mosquitoes too.

juga boleh dijangkiti nyamuk.

So, if these bugs are so dastardly, why don't we just get rid of them?

Nyamuk sangat berbahaya,

mengapa kita tidak menghapuskannya?

We are humans after all,

Kita manusia,

and we're pretty good at getting rid of species.

kita mahir menghapuskan spesies.

Ia tidak begitu mudah.

Well, it's not quite so simple.

Getting rid of the mosquito removes a food source

Menghapuskan nyamuk

akan menghilangkan sumber makanan

for lots of organisms, like frogs and fish and birds.

bagi banyak organisma

seperti katak, ikan dan burung.

Without them, plants would lose a pollinator.

Tanpa nyamuk, tumbuhan akan kehilangan pendebunga.

But some scientists say

Tapi, terdapat saintis yang berkata

that mosquitos aren't actually all that important.

sebenarnya nyamuk bukannya begitu penting.

If we got rid of them, they argue,

Jika kita menghapuskannya,

another species would simply take their place

spesies lain akan menggantikan nyamuk

and we'd probably have far fewer deaths from malaria.

dan ia akan mengurangkan kematian yang diakibatkan demam malaria.

The problem is that nobody knows what would happen

Masalahnya ialah,

tiada orang tahu apa yang akan berlaku

if we killed off all the mosquitos.

jika kita menghapuskan semua nyamuk.

Something better might take their spot

Mungkin spesies yang lebih baik atau buruk

or perhaps something even worse.

akan menggantikan nyamuk.

The question is, are we willing to take that risk?

Soalannya ialah,

adakah kita sanggup mengambil risiko itu?

(Buzzing)