The loathsome, lethal mosquito - Rose Eveleth

Ta gnusni, smrtonosni komar - Rose Eveleth

Translator: Nika Kotnik Reviewer: Matej Divjak

What's the worst bug on the planet?

Kateri je najhujši mrčes na planetu?

You might vote for the horsefly or perhaps the wasp,

Morda glasujete za obada, morda za oso,

but for many people,

a za veliko ljudi je daleč najhujši zločinec komar.

the worst offender is by far the mosquito.

The buzzing, the biting,

Brenčanje, pikanje, srbenje,

the itching,

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

komar je eden izmed najbolj pogosto zaničevanih nadlog na svetu.

In Alaska, swarms of mosquitos can get so thick

Na Aljaski so roji komarjev lahko tako gosti,

that they actually asphyxiate caribou.

da lahko dejansko zadušijo karibuja.

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

Bolezni, ki jih prenašajo, ubijejo milijone ljudi vsako leto.

The scourge that is the mosquito isn't new.

Sovraštvo do komarja ni nič novega.

Mosquitoes have been around for over a hundred million years

Komarji so tu več kot 100 milijonov let

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

in sočasno so se razvijali z različnimi vrstami, tudi z našo.

including our own.

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

Obstaja na tisoče vrst komarjev na svetu, a vsi si delijo eno zahrbtno lastnost:

but they all share one insidious quality:

they suck blood,

sesajo kri in res, res dobri so v tem.

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

Here's how they do it.

Takole to storijo.

After landing, a mosquito will slather

Po pristanku komar izpljune nekaj sline na kožo žrtve,

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

ki deluje kot antiseptik, omrtviči točko, tako da napada ne opazimo.

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

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

Mimogrede, to je tisto kar povzroči srbeče, rdeče pike.

Then the bug will use its serrated mandibles

Nato uporabi svoje nazobčane čeljusti, da izrežejo majhno luknjo v vašo kožo,

to carve a little hole in your skin,

allowing it to probe around with its proboscis,

da lahko dreza vanjo s svojim rilčkom in išče žilo.

searching for a blood vessel.

When it hits one, the lucky parasite can suck

Ko jo najde, ta srečni parazit lahko izsesa

two to three times its weight in blood.

dvakratno ali trikratno lastno težo v krvi.

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

Izkaže se, da nam to ni preveč všeč.

In fact, humans hate mosquitos so much

Ljudje jih tako zelo sovražimo, da smo zapravili na milijarde dolarjev

that we spend billions of dollars worldwide

to keep them away from us --

po celem svetu, da bi jih odgnali -

from citronella candles

od citronela sveč, sprejev proti mrčesu, do močnih agrikulturnih pesticidov.

to bug sprays to heavy-duty agricultural pesticides.

But it's not just that mosquitos are annoying,

Ne samo, da so komarji nadležni, so tudi smrtonosni.

they're also deadly.

Mosquitos can transmit everything from malaria to yellow fever

Komarji lahko prenašajo karkoli od malarije do rumene mrzlice

to West Nile virus to dengue.

do virusa zahodnega Nila in do vročice denga.

Over a million people worldwide

Več kot milijon ljudi na svetu umre vsako leto od bolezni,

die every year from mosquito-borne diseases,

ki jih prenašajo komarji, in to samo ljudje.

and that's just people.

Horses, dogs, cats,

Konji, psi, mačke, vsi lahko dobijo bolezni od komarjev.

they can all get diseases from mosquitoes too.

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

Torej, če so ti žužki tako nemarni, zakaj se jih enostavno ne znebimo?

We are humans after all,

Saj smo vendarle ljudje in precej dobri smo pri iztrebljanju vrst.

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

Well, it's not quite so simple.

No, ni tako preprosto.

Getting rid of the mosquito removes a food source

Če se znebimo komarja, izgubimo vir hrane za veliko organizmov

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

kot naprimer žabe, ribe in ptiče.

Without them, plants would lose a pollinator.

Brez njih bi rastline izgubile opraševalca.

But some scientists say

Nekateri znanstveniki pravijo, da komarji sploh niso tako pomembni.

that mosquitos aren't actually all that important.

If we got rid of them, they argue,

Če se jih znebimo, pravijo, bi neka druga vrsta prevzela njihovo mesto

another species would simply take their place

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

in najbrž bi imeli mnogo manj smrti zaradi malarije.

The problem is that nobody knows what would happen

Problem je, da ne vemo, kaj bi se zgodilo, če bi pobili vse komarje.

if we killed off all the mosquitos.

Something better might take their spot

Morda bi jih nadomestilo nekaj boljšega, ali pa morda še nekaj hujšega.

or perhaps something even worse.

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

Vprašanje je, ali smo to tveganje pripravljeni sprejeti?

(Buzzing)