What’s worse than a wasp’s sting? Murder - Miles Zhang

翻译人员: Yip Yan Yeung 校对人员: Grace Man

A cockroach and jewel wasp are locked in battle—

蟑螂和宝石黄蜂的缠斗难解难分，

but not for long.

但并不会持续太久。

The wasp latches onto the cockroach, arcs her body,

黄蜂擒住蟑螂， 弯曲自己的身体，

and inserts her stinger precisely into a cluster of nerves

再将她的螫针准确地插入

蟑螂胸部的神经集群之中。

in the cockroach’s thorax.

The venom that surges out temporarily paralyzes the cockroach’s front legs.

迸发的毒液暂时麻痹了 蟑螂的前腿。

She then stings its brain,

然后，她蛰了蟑螂的脑部，

where her venom blocks its fight-or-flight response.

她的毒液让蟑螂 无力招架又无法动弹。

From here on out, the cockroach is essentially a zombie.

从此刻起， 蟑螂就是个傀儡了。

The wasp snaps the cockroach’s antennae in half,

黄蜂折断了蟑螂的触角，

uses the broken pieces as straws to feed off its blood-like hemolymph,

将触角节段用作吸管， 吸取蟑螂体内类似血液的血淋巴，

then leads it into a subterranean lair.

然后把蟑螂带去她的地下巢穴。

She lays an egg on her victim and carefully seals the burrow,

她会在蟑螂身上产卵， 然后小心地封上洞穴，

which becomes her offspring’s nursery— and the cockroach’s crypt.

这个洞穴即为 幼虫的温床、蟑螂的坟墓。

Over the following weeks,

在接下里的几周内，

her larva hatches, bores into the cockroach,

幼虫孵化，钻进蟑螂的躯体，

eats it alive, pupates in its carcass,

活吃蟑螂，在它的尸体中化蛹，

and emerges as an iridescent adult.

再以成虫的形态闪亮登场。

This gruesome tale is just one example of parasitoidism,

这个恐怖的故事 只是拟寄生现象的一个例子，

an evolutionary strategy employed by most wasps.

大多数黄蜂都会采用 这种繁衍进化的方式。

Parasitoids feed off other animals as they develop,

拟寄生物在成长的过程中 以其他动物为食，

usually killing their hosts in the process.

通常会在此过程中杀死寄主。

In fact, these insects are about to meet their ends by way of wasps—

黄蜂会让这些昆虫行将就木，

each in a uniquely dreadful manner.

而且各有各的惨烈死法。

This wasp targets the ladybug, planting an egg inside its body.

黄蜂盯上了瓢虫， 在瓢虫的体内放入了一颗卵。

When the larva hatches, it consumes the beetle’s body fat.

在幼虫孵化的过程中， 它会蚕食瓢虫体内的脂肪。

It eventually emerges, but the ladybug’s duty isn’t done.

等它孵出时， 瓢虫的任务还没结束。

It’s now semi-paralyzed, possibly due to a viral infection the wasp gave it.

瓢虫处于半麻痹状态， 可能源自黄蜂造成的病毒感染。

The larva spins a cocoon between its legs,

幼虫会在瓢虫腿间作茧，

and the still-alive-but-bewitched beetle stands guard.

这样这只虽然活着但晕头转向的 瓢虫就能起到守卫作用。

When a predatory lacewing larva approaches,

来猎食的草蛉幼虫靠近时，

the ladybug twitches, scaring it off.

瓢虫会抽搐，把它吓跑。

Many other creatures avoid the ladybug altogether

很多其他的生物都会远离瓢虫，

because of its bright coloration, which advertises its toxicity.

因为瓢虫有着鲜艳的色彩， 宣告着它的毒性。

After a week, an adult wasp appears,

一周后，黄蜂成虫出现，

leaving its hapless helper’s corpse behind.

抛下它那倒霉帮手的尸体 远走高飞。

Next is the tiny but fierce crypt-keeper wasp,

下一个例子来自 身材娇小但凶猛的守穴黄蜂，

which targets gall wasp larvae like this one.

它们以这种瘿蜂幼虫为目标。

The gall wasp larva is also parasitic, but in a more vegetarian sense.

瘿蜂幼虫也会寄生， 但是更佛系一点。

It’s feasting on this oak tree,

它们寄生于这棵橡树，

tucked away in a chamber on one of its branches.

藏在树枝的洞穴内。

Soon, it has company.

不速之客很快就来了。

The crypt-keeper wasp adds her egg into the mix.

守穴黄蜂注入了她自己的卵。

The gall wasp develops, and eventually begins chewing its way out,

瘿蜂逐渐成长， 最终开始如常一路吃出洞穴。

as it normally would.

But it makes a smaller-than-usual hole and gets stuck.

但是它钻的孔比往常的要小， 于是卡住了。

The crypt-keeper larva eats through the gall wasp’s corpse, pupates within it,

守穴黄蜂大快朵颐 瘿蜂的尸体，化蛹，

then makes its debut, crawling out of the dead wasp’s head.

然后从死蜂头上爬出， 粉墨登场。

The final victim is this caterpillar.

最后一位受害者是这条毛毛虫。

It would have become an owlet moth that fluttered in the cool night air,

它会长成一只在清凉夜空中 振翅飞翔的夜蛾，

but a few weeks ago, while developing in its egg,

但是几周前， 在毛毛虫卵孵化时，

this wasp injected an egg of her own.

黄蜂注入了她自己的卵。

The caterpillar hatched and began growing.

毛毛虫卵孵化了，开始成长。

And in a process called polyembryony,

黄蜂卵通过“多胚”这一过程， 内部反复分裂。

the wasp spawn divides repeatedly inside of it.

But a second kind of wasp also lays her eggs on the caterpillar.

但是又来了一只黄蜂， 也在毛毛虫身上产了卵。

The original brood senses this

原始的卵识别到了新的卵，

and further develops into two distinct castes.

于是分成了两个不同的族群。

What was one egg becomes thousands of larvae:

一颗卵会长成几千个幼虫：

some of them are reproductives, others are soldiers.

一部分用于繁殖， 一部分用于防卫。

The caterpillar is now both wasp buffet and battleground.

这条毛毛虫现在是黄蜂的海洋， 也是一个战场。

As the reproductive larvae consume its insides,

黄蜂的繁殖性幼虫 会吃掉毛毛虫的身体，

the soldiers kill the other parasitoids.

卫兵幼虫会杀死其他拟寄生物。

The reproductive larvae morph into adults and the soldiers die within the host.

繁殖性幼虫发育为成虫， 而卫兵会死于宿主体内。

Needless to say, the result for the caterpillar is ... very bad.

显而易见，毛毛虫的下场很惨。

This was just a peek into the prolific province of parasitoid wasps.

这只是拟寄生黄蜂的 “丰功伟绩”中的几件。

Some venture underwater to find their hosts.

有些黄蜂会钻入水下寻找宿主。

Others are hyperparasitoids, whose victims are other parasitoid wasps.

有些还是“超寄生生物”， 寄生在其他拟寄生黄蜂身上。

Scientists are still pulling back the curtain on these creatures.

科学家们依旧在尝试 揭开这些生物的面纱。

They can be hard to collect and quite small:

黄蜂捕捉起来很困难， 而且很小：

the world’s tiniest known insect is a microscopic wasp

世界上已知最小的昆虫是 一种微小的黄蜂，

that parasitizes barklice eggs.

寄生于树虱卵内。

Though much remains unknown,

虽然未解之谜有很多，

some researchers suspect that parasitoid wasps

但是有些研究者怀疑 拟寄生黄蜂

are among the most diverse animal groups—

是最多样化的动物种群之一，

perhaps the most diverse.

也有可能就是最多样化的那一个。

Wasps have been perfecting their brand of parasitism

黄蜂在过去 2 亿 4700 万年里 丰满着它们“寄生”的形象，

for some 247 million years,

all to give their offspring the very best opportunities life has to offer.

只为给它们的后代留下 生命可以给予的最佳机会。